To know one thing thoroughly would be to know the universe. William James More Quotes by William James More Quotes From William James Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds, above the storms, if you only let them. William James hope dream clouds Once a decision is reached, stop worrying and start working. William James stop-worrying decision worry 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 education morning inspirational A sense of humor is just common sense dancing. William James common-sense dance humor So with the man who has daily inured himself to habits of concentrated attention, energetic volition, and self-denial in unnecessary things. He will stand like a tower when everything rocks around him, and when his softer fellow-mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast. William James rocks self men Man lives in only one small room of the enormous house of his consciousness. William James small-rooms men thinking Philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits. William James philosophical sublime philosophy The total possible consciousness may be split into parts which co-exist but mutually ignore each other. William James splits consciousness may Success plus Self-esteem equals Pretensions. William James congratulations self-esteem success The attitude of unhappiness is not only painful, it is mean and ugly. What can be more base and unworthy than the pining, puling, mumping mood, no matter by what outward ills it may have been engendered? What is more injurious to others? What less helpful as a way out of the difficulty? It but fastens and perpetuates the trouble which occasioned it, and increases the total evil of the situation. At all costs, then, we ought to reduce the sway of that mood; we ought to scout it in ourselves and others, and never show it tolerance. William James attitude happiness mean Since you make evil or good by your own thoughts, it is your ruling of your thoughts which proves to be your principal concern. William James ruling prove evil We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can...in the acquisition of a new habit, we must take car to launch ourselves with as strong and decided initiative as possible. Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. William James strong success life It is your friends who make your world. William James short-best-friend my-best-friend meaningful Men habitually use only a small part of the power which they actually possess. William James small-parts use men We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. William James effort-and-hard-work best-effort forget The sovereign cure for worry is prayer. William James philosophical prayer worry It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all. William James change positive life Pessimism leads to weakness. Optimism leads to power. William James positive-thinking optimistic uplifting Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit. William James optimistic acting way The absolute things, the last things, the overlapping things, are the truly philosophic concerns; all superior minds feel seriously about them, and the mind with the shortest views is simply the mind of the more shallow man. William James philosophical views men