"The essence of genius is to know what to overlook."
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William James quotes (page 8 of 36)
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"To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within our reach, is the great art of life."
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"As long as there are postmen, life will have zest."
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"Our view of the world is truly shaped by what we decide to hear."
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"Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don't want to do"
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"Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state."
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"Every time a resolve or a fine glow of feeling evaporates without bearing practical fruit is worse than a chance lost; it works to hinder future resolutions and emotions from taking the normal path of discharge. There is no more contemptible type of human character than that of the nerveless sentimentalist and dreamer, who spends his life in a weltering sea of sensibility and emotion, but who never does a manly concrete deed."
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"There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood bu those who hear it."
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"Whilst part of what we perceive comes through our senses from the object before us, another part (and it may be the larger part) always comes out of our own mind."
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"Compared to what we ought to be, we are half awake."
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"Begin to be now what you will be hereafter."
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"Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible."
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"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."
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"As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors."
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"Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it."
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"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."
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"We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be."
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"To change ones life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly."
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"Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world."
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"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar, the drinking of every cup, the time of rising and going to bed every day, and the beginning of every bit of work, are subjects of express volitional deliberation."
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