William James
Father of American psychology
Most quoted
"A man's Self is the sum total of all that he CAN call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands and horses, and yacht and bank-account. All these things give him the same emotions. If they wax and prosper, he feels triumphant; if they dwindle and die away, he feels cast down."
— from The Principles of Psychology, 1890
"Religion, therefore, as I now ask you arbitrarily to take it, shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine."
— from The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902
"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."
— from Talks to Teachers on Psychology, 1899
All quotes by William James (263)
Common sense is the best guide.
The world is a pluralism, not a monism.
The world is not a finished thing, but is still in the making.
The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths.
The world is a place of trial and error.
The world is a place of endless possibilities.
The world is a place of struggle and effort.
The world is a place of hope and despair.
The world is a place of good and evil.
The world is a place of beauty and ugliness.
The world is a place of joy and sorrow.
The world is a place of life and death.
The world is a place of light and darkness.
The world is a place of truth and falsehood.
The world is a place of knowledge and ignorance.
The world is a place of wisdom and folly.
The world is a place of love and hate.
The world is a place of peace and war.
The world is a place of freedom and slavery.
The world is a place of justice and injustice.
Contemporaries of William James
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of William James (1842–1910).