William James

"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."

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Source: William James (2015). “The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature”, p.43, Xist Publishing

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William James

William James

Philosopher, Psychologist

William James was a pioneering American philosopher and psychologist, known for his work on pragmatism and the psychology of belief.

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