The 60 best quotes by William James

We discover the thoughts of one of the pioneers of psychology.

William James (1842-1910) was an important philosopher and psychologist, who, along with Charles Sanders Peircefounded the philosophical school of pragmatism, which holds that the meaning of an idea must be sought in its practical effects, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth must be tested by the practical consequences of belief.

Famous quotes and quotations from psychologist William James

This author uttered countless quotes with great meaning and wisdom.. Below you can find some of his best reflections.

Related articles:

• "75 Erich Fromm quotes to understand his thought".
• "The 101 best phrases of Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis".
• "80 Carl Jung's phrases to rethink your existence".

1. Our view of the world is shaped by what we choose to listen to.

We interpret the world based on our knowledge and beliefs.

2. We are ready to be savages for some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad man is the choice of cause.

People can choose to be good or bad, depending on what is or is not socially accepted.

3. An idea, in order to be suggestive, must reach the individual in the form of a revelation.

The ideas we value most are those that bring us something.

4. Believe that life is worth living and that belief will help to create the fact that life is worth living.

The attitude we have towards life makes us act in a certain way.

5. It is our attitude at the beginning of something difficult, more than anything else, that will affect a successful outcome.

Like the previous quote, a positive attitude will help us to behave in a positive way.

6. Is life worth living? It's all up to the individual

It is up to us to live life to the fullest or to live anchored in the past.

7. Action seems to be followed by emotion, but in reality action and feeling go together; and by regulating action, which is under the control of the will, we can directly regulate emotion.

William James was always interested in providing knowledge about why and how we human beings experience emotions.

8. Studying the abnormal is the best way to understand the normal

A play on words that hides a very meaningful idea.

9. The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

Sometimes we have to leave some things aside in order to follow our path.

10. Age is a high price to pay for maturity.

With age, one matures. That doesn't mean that you should feel older.

11. Nothing is as tiring as leaving a task unfinished forever.

A quote that talks about procrastination.

• You can learn more about this phenomenon in our article: "Procrastination or the "I'll do it tomorrow" syndrome: what it is and how to prevent it".

12. Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action.

Happiness depends largely on what we want and strive to achieve.

13. Habit is the great flywheel that moves society, its most valuable agent of conservation.

William James devoted part of his life to learning more about people's habits.

14. Belief creates the actual fact

What we think determines our action and the path we take.

15. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.

The attitude we have has a great impact on the results we achieve.

16. To change life: start immediately. Do it ostentatiously

Action is essential to transform our daily lives. Without action there is no change.

17. It is always wrong, anywhere, and for anyone, to believe something without sufficient evidence.

We cannot believe in something without having seen that it is really so.

18. There is only one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in himself.

When a person does not believe in his possibilities, he is doomed to failure.

19. Many people think they are thinking when they are rearranging their prejudices.

Prejudices determine how we interpret what surrounds us.

20. Anything you can hold firmly in your imagination can be yours.

A quote that refers to the desires people have.

21. The greatest thing in all education is to make our nervous system our ally rather than our enemy.

A quote from William James that invites deep reflection.

22. Common sense and sense of humor are the same thing although moving at different speeds. Common sense is like a sense of humor but dancing.

A reflection that has a certain touch of irony.

23. If you can change your mind, you can change your life.

To change, it is first necessary to transform the way you think.

24. Begin to be now what you will be from now on.

To transform your life, you must first change your mind.

25. The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies without the sympathy of the community.

People are social beings and, therefore, better united.

26. Acceptance of what has happened is the first step in overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.

Acceptance is the key to moving forward.

27. If an organism fails to fulfill its potential, it becomes ill.

Personal development and self-realization are the key to greater satisfaction in life.

28. The deepest principle of human nature is the longing to be appreciated.

People are social beings and we like to be respected and appreciated.

29. Whenever you are in a conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging the relationship or strengthening it. That factor is attitude.

Attitude is also important in interpersonal relationships.

30. When you have to make a decision and you don't, it is in itself, a decision.

Even if you don't make up your mind about something, you have made the decision not to make up your mind.

31. In the depths of the mind we know what we should be doing but somehow we can't get started.

Sometimes it happens that we think about changing but we don't take action.

32. The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

Stress often has its origin in our beliefs.

33. As a rule, we do not believe in facts and theories for which we are not prepared.

We usually believe those things that fit best with our knowledge and beliefs.

34. I do not sing because I am happy, I am happy because I sing.

The mind greatly influences our body and our actions.

35. The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves it.

A sentence full of meaning and that makes the reader think deeply.

36. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does

Attitude is the key to success or failure.

37. Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.

The way we think has a great impact on our behavior.

38. Genius means little more than the ability to perceive in an unusual way.

Geniuses are people with unusual intelligence.

39. If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.

Better to believe you are good and act with confidence than to believe you are bad and act with pessimism.

40. Everyone should do at least two things they hate a day, just for practice.

A phrase that has a certain sense of humor but is very true.

41. A paradise of inner tranquility seems to be the result of faith.

With faith we seek to be at peace with ourselves.

42. The greatest use of a life is to spend it in something that will outlast it.

When we enjoy doing something we like, time passes and does not seem to move forward.

40. The ideas obtained by man before he is twenty-five are practically the only ideas he will ever have in his life.

Meaning that at that age a person thinks with the Heart and not with the mind.

41. The most immovable barrier in nature is that between the thought of one man and the thought of another.

The differences of opinion between two people are often unbridgeable.

42. Success or failure depends more on attitude than ability. Successful men act as if they have achieved something or enjoy something. Act, look, feel, as if you are successful and you will see impressive results.

Our thoughts can act as limiting or empowering beliefs.

43. Compared to what we should be, we are half awake.

William James always had great reflections like the one in this quote.

44. Wherever you are from, it is your own friends that make your world.

Friendships are a big part of our life, and they accompany us throughout our existence.

45. If you think that feeling bad or worrying will change the past or the future, you are living on another planet with a different reality.

It is useless to think about the past over and over again, the best thing to do is to turn the page.

46. For most of us, by our thirties, character has set like plaster, and it will never soften again.

As the years go by, it becomes more difficult to change.

47. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let go of the past, expand our sense of the now, and dissolve fear from our minds.

To change, it is necessary to be open to change and to have an open mind.

48. To be a real philosopher, all that is necessary is to hate someone else's way of thinking.

Not agreeing with the opinion of others can make us reflect deeply.

49. Every way of classifying a thing is only a way of handling it for a certain particular purpose.

A quote about how people can be prejudiced.

50. Whenever two people meet, there are always six people present. How each person sees himself, how one person sees the other, and each person as he really is.

A funny quote that refers to how people see ourselves as others see us.

51. As a rule we do not believe in facts and theories for which we have no use.

A theory doesn't make much sense if it is not useful and applicable.

52. A sense of humor is a philosophical state of mind; it seems to say to nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us.

Again, another quote with a certain joking tone about taking life seriously.

53. Life only has meaning if we give it meaning.

There is no point in living life if we are constantly sad.

54. It is not easy to choose one's path in the face of so many choices.

William James reminds us that sometimes it can be difficult to make a choice about where we want to go.

55. Believe that life is worth living and that belief will help create the fact that we can achieve what we want.

Almost always, when we believe in our possibilities, we can achieve what we desire.

56. We are like islands in the sea, separated from the surface but connected in the depths.

A comparison of islands with the way people are.

57. If we consider the world of geometric relations, there sleeps the thousandth decimal of Pi, although no one ever tries to calculate it.

A quote about the number Pi and geometric relations: When something worries you, it is usual to take measures to solve it.

58. The voluntary and sovereign path to joy, if we lose our joy, consists in proceeding with joy, acting and speaking with joy, as if that joy were already with us.

We have no better choice than to face life with a positive attitude.

59. The uncalculated decimals of pi sleep in a mysterious abstract realm, where they enjoy a faint reality, until they are not calculated, they do not become fully real, and even then their reality is a mere matter of degree.

Truth is not absolute, but people may have different points of view.

60. If you are sufficiently concerned about an outcome, you will possibly do something about it.

Negative thinking can be useful in many circumstances.