The word 'cause' is an altar to an unknown god. William James More Quotes by William James More Quotes From William James Give up the feeling of responsibility, let go your hold, resign the care of your destiny to higher powers, be genuinely indifferent as to what becomes of it all and you will find not only that you gain a perfect inward relief, but often also, in addition, the particular goods you sincerely thought you were renouncing. William James giving-up responsibility letting-go The teacher's prime concern should be to ingrain into the pupil that assortment of habits that shall be most useful to him throughout life. Education is for behavior, and habits are the stuff of which behavior consists. William James behavior stuff teacher As a rule reading fiction is as hard to me as trying to hit a target by hurling feathers at it. I need resistance to celebrate! William James reading trying book Impulse without reason is enough, and reason without impulse is a poor makeshift. William James poor enough reason To neglect the wise sayings of great thinkers is to deny ourselves the truest education. William James neglect deny wise 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 should mind philosophy Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. William James different special lying The work that leads to a doctor's degree is a constant temptation to sacrifice one's growth as a man to one's growth as a specialist. William James doctors sacrifice men In order to disprove the assertion that all crows are black, one white crow is sufficient. William James black white order There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of feeling, of desire, of deliberation, etc., that constantly pass and repass, and that constitute our inner life. William James educational feelings philosophy 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 becoming gone trying ... no bell in us tolls to let us know for certain when truth is in our grasp. William James bells tolls truth-is What a magnificent land and race is this Britain! Everything about them is of better quality than the corresponding thing in the U.S.... Yet I believe (or suspect) that ours is eventually the bigger destiny, if we can only succeed in living up to it. William James destiny race believe 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 mind character world The amount of psychology which is necessary to all teachers need not be very great. William James teaching teacher art Humanism . . . is not a single hypothesis or theorem, and it dwells on no new facts. It is rather a slow shifting in the philosophic perspective, making things appear as from a new centre of interest or point of sight. William James shifting perspective sight All natural happiness thus seems infected with a contradiction. The breath of the sepulchre surrounds it. William James contradiction natural happiness Even if matter could do every outward thing that God does, the idea of it would not work as satisfactorily, because the chief callfor a God on modern men's part is for a being who will inwardly recognize them and judge them sympathetically. Matter disappoints this craving of our ego, so God remains for most men the truer hypothesis, and indeed remains so for definite pragmatic reasons. William James judging men ideas Men are now proud of belonging to a conquering nation, and without a murmur they lay down their persons and their wealth, if by so doing they may fend off subjection. William James proud may men A winner's attitude: it may be difficult, but it's possible. A loser's attitude: It may be possible, but it's too difficult. William James loser may attitude
