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No decision is, in itself, a decision.

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
Decision

More quotes by William James

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Agisci come se quel che fai, facesse la differenza. La fa!
William James
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Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.
William James
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The ideas gained by men before they are twenty-five are practically the only ideas they shall have in their lives.
William James
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Men habitually use only a small part of the power which they actually possess.
William James
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Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not.
William James
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So our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do.
William James
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If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.
William James
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When you have broken the reality into concepts you never can reconstruct it in its wholeness.
William James
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Anything you may hold firmly in your imagination can be yours.
William James
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... if we take the universe of 'fitting,' countless coats 'fit' backs, and countless boots 'fit' feet, on which they are not practically fitted countless stones 'fit' gaps in walls into which no one seeks to fit them actually. In the same way countless opinions 'fit' realities, and countless truths are valid, tho no thinker ever thinks them.
William James
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It is astonishing how many mental operations we can explain when we have once grasped the principles of association
William James
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The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
William James
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No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.
William James
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The perfect stillness of the night was thrilled by a more solemn silence. The darkness held a presence that was all the more felt because it was not seen. I could not any more have doubted that HE was there than that I was. Indeed, I felt myself to be, if possible, the less real of the two.
William James
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To consider hypotheses is surely always better than to dogmatize ins blaue hinein
William James
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Good-humor is a philosophic state of mind it seems to say to Nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us. I maintain that one should always talk of philosophy with a smile.
William James
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Why should we think upon things that are lovely? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings.
William James
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The mind of your own enemy, the pupil, is working away from you, as keenly and eagerly as is the mind of the commander on the other side from the scientific general. Just what the respective enemies want and think, and what they know or do not know, are as hard things for the teachers as for the general to find out.
William James
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To give up pretensions is as blessed a relief as to get them ratified.
William James
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It is as important to cultivate your silence power as your word power.
William James