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We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, never to be undone.

William James

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William James
Age: 68 †
Born: 1842
Born: January 11
Died: 1910
Died: August 26
Philosopher
Physician
Psychologist
University Teacher
W. James
Undone
Spinning
Fate
Evil
Good
Never
Fates

More quotes by William James

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Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.
William James
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All the qualities of a man acquire dignity when he knows that the service of the collectivity that owns him needs them. If proud of the collectivity, his own pride rises in proportion. No collectivity is like an army for nourishing such pride.
William James
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Knowledge about life is one thing effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.
William James
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Whatever universe a professor believes in must at any rate be a universe that lends itself to lengthy discourse. A universe definable in two sentences is something for which the professorial intellect has no use. No faith in anything of that cheap kind!
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There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self.
William James
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Belief creates the actual fact.
William James
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Events are influenced by our very great desires.
William James
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... I am the same personal being who in old times upon the Earth had those experiences.
William James
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A man may not achieve everything he has dreamed, but he will never achieve anything great without having dreamed it first.
William James
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Let anyone try, I will not say to arrest, but to notice or to attend to, the present moment of time. One of the most baffling experiences occurs. Where is it, this present? It has melted in our grasp, fled ere we could touch it, gone in the instant of becoming.
William James
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Habit is the great flywheel of society.
William James
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The old question of whether there is design is idle. The real question is what is the world, whether or not it have a designer--and that can be revealed only by the study of all nature's particulars.
William James
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Psychology ought certainly to give the teacher radical help.
William James
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When a thing is new, people say: ‘It is not true.’ Later, when its truth becomes obvious, they say: ‘It is not important.’ Finally, when its importance cannot be denied, they say: ‘Anyway, it is not new.
William James
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A difference which makes no difference is no difference at all.
William James
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To know an object is to lead to it through a context which the world provides
William James
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The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
William James
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Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?
William James
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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
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Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive.
William James