Quote

Impulse without reason is enough, and reason without impulse is a poor makeshift.

William James

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

William James
Age: 68 †
Born: 1842
Born: January 11
Died: 1910
Died: August 26
Philosopher
Physician
Psychologist
University Teacher
W. James
Impulse
Poor
Reason
Without
Enough
Makeshift

More quotes by William James

Image
Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity.
William James
Image
It is art that makes life, and I know of no substitute whatsoever for the force and beauty of its process.
William James
Image
... A rule of thinking which would absolutely prevent me from acknowledging certain kinds of truth if those ... truths were really there, would be an irrational rule.
William James
Image
The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
William James
Image
The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
William James
Image
The instant field of the present is at all times what I call the 'pure' experience. It is only virtually or potentially either object or subject as yet.
William James
Image
The most peculiar social self which one is apt to have is in the mind of the person one is in love with.
William James
Image
Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.
William James
Image
Pretend what we may, the whole man within us is at work when we form our philosophical opinions. Intellect, will, taste, and passion co-operate just as they do in practical affairs and lucky it is if the passion be not something as petty as a love of personal conquest over the philosopher across the way.
William James
Image
We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and as carefully guard against the growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous.
William James
Image
I believe there is no source of deception in the investigation of nature which can compare with a fixed belief that certain kinds of phenomena are IMPOSSIBLE.
William James
Image
The exercise of prayer, in those who habitually exert it, must be regarded by us doctors as the most adequate and normal of all the pacifiers of the mind and calmers of the nerves.
William James
Image
It is as important to cultivate your silence power as your word power.
William James
Image
Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive.
William James
Image
Let no youth have any anxiety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If he keep faithfully busy each hour of the working-day, he may safely leave the result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count on waking up some fine morning to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation.
William James
Image
The worst thing that can happen to a good teacher is to get a bad conscience about her profession because she feels herself hopeless as a psychologist.
William James
Image
A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.
William James
Image
As the brain-changes are continuous, so do all these consciousnesses melt into each other like dissolving views. Properly they are but one protracted consciousness, one unbroken stream.
William James
Image
If you can change your mind, you can change your life.
William James
Image
In any project the important factor is your belief. Without belief, there can be no successful outcome.
William James