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Intellectualism' is the belief that our mind comes upon a world complete in itself, and has the duty of ascertaining its contents but has no power of re-determining its character, for that is already given.

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
Belief
Upon
Ascertaining
Comes
Intellectualism
Given
Contents
Power
Determining
Character
Complete
Mind
Duty
World
Already

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Events are influenced by our very great desires.
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All natural goods perish. Riches take wings fame is a breath love is a cheat youth and health and pleasure vanish.
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Man, whatever else he may be, is primarily a practical being, whose mind is given him to aid in adapting him to this world's life
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So our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do.
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The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths.
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The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business. He cannot accommodate his processes to the convenience of individuals.
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On pragmatistic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true.
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We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.
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Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes. Not through mere perversity do men run after it.
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The function of ignoring, of inattention, is as vital a factor in mental progress as the function of attention itself.
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Every time a resolve or a fine glow of feeling evaporates without bearing practical fruit is worse than a chance lost it works so as positively to hinder future resolutions and emotions from taking the normal path of discharge.
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We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can. . . . The more of the details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism, the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work.
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Geniuses are commonly believed to excel other men in their power of sustained attention . . . But it is their genius making them attentive, not their attention making geniuses of them.
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The education of attention would be an education par excellence
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We can change our circumstances by a mere change of our attitude.
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