Good-humor is a philosophic state of mind; it seems to say to Nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us. I maintain that one should always talk of philosophy with a smile.

The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians biographers and critics. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of diarist Alice James. This article is about the American psychologist and philosopher.