Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by William James

Quote by William James

“We, the lineal representatives of the successful enactors of one scene of slaughter after another, must, whatever more pacific virtues we may also possess, still carry about with us, ready at any moment to burst into flame, the smoldering and sinister traits of character by means of which they lived through so many massacres, harming others, but themselves unharmed.”

Quote by William James

Book:The Principles of Psychology, Vol. 2
Create image

Work

The Principles of Psychology, Vol. 2

This volume delves into the intricate workings of the human psyche, offering in-depth analysis of psychological phenomena and theories. It is a seminal work in the field of psychology, providing a detailed examination of cognitive processes, emotions, and social interactions. more

Author

William James
William James

William James, born on January 11, 1842, and died on August 26, 1910, was an influential American philosopher, psychologist, and writer. He is considered one of the founders of functionalism in psychology and has had a profound impact on the fields of psychology, philosophy, and religion. more

You May Also Like

“The most violent revolutions in an individuals beliefs leave most of his old order standing. Time and space, cause and effect, nature and history, and ones own biography remain untouched. New truth is always a go-between, a smoother-over of transitions. It marries old opinion to new fact so as ever to show a minimum of jolt, a maximum of continuity.”

FactsShowsOrderIndividualBeliefCausesSpaceOpinionEffectsRevolutionTruth IsStandingViolentTransitionMinimumBiographiesTime And SpaceMaximumContinuityCause And EffectViolent Revolution
Book:Pragmatism and the Conception of Thruth
Create image

“Failure, then, failure! so the world stamps us at every turn. We strew it with our blunders, our misdeeds, our lost opportunities, with all the memorials of our inadequacy to our vocation. And with what a damning emphasis does it then blot us out! No easy fine, no mere apology or formal expiation, will satisfy the world's demands, but every pound of flesh exacted is soaked with all its blood. The subtlest forms of suffering known to man are connected with the poisonous humiliations incidental to these results.”

MenWorldDoeFormSufferingTurnsOpportunityLostEasyResultsKnownBloodFineDemandMereConnectedFleshPoundsApologyFormalHumiliationEmphasisStampsVocationMemorialBlundersPoisonousInadequacyMisdeedsLost Opportunity
Book:The Varieties of Religious Experience
Create image

“The further limits of our being plunge, it seems to me, into an altogether other dimension of existence from the sensible and merely understandable world. Name it the mystical region, or the supernatural region, whichever you choose. So far as our ideal impulses originate in this region (and most of them do originate in it, for we find them possessing us in a way for which we cannot articulately account), we belong to it in a more intimate sense than that in which we belong to the visible world, for we belong in the most intimate sense wherever our ideals belong.”

WorldWaySeemsNamesExistenceLimitsIdealsAccountsImpulseIntimateVisibleDimensionsRegionsSensibleYou ChooseMysticalPossessingPlunge
Book:Essays in Pragmatism
Create image

“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.”

GivingFeelingsCarePerfectResponsibilityDestinyAcceptanceParticularHigherLetting GoGiving UpGainsReliefGoodsIndifferentInwardOur DestinySincerelyYour DestinyResignationHigher PowerResigning
Book:The Varieties of Religious Experience
Create image