#me

There must be something solemn, serious, and tender about any attitude which we denominate religious. If glad, it must not grin or snicker; if sad, it must not scream or curse. ↗

— William James

#any #attitude #curse #glad #grin

To be conscious means not simply to be, but to be reported, known, to have awareness of one's being added to that being. ↗

— William James

#awareness #being #conscious #known #means

We are doomed to cling to a life even while we find it unendurable. ↗

— William James

#doomed #even #find #life #unendurable

We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be. ↗

— William James

#clear #fully #grasp #import #never

Whatever universe a professor believes in must at any rate be a universe that lends itself to lengthy discourse. A universe definable in two sentences is something for which the professorial intellect has no use. No faith in anything of that cheap kind! ↗

— William James

#anything #believes #cheap #discourse #faith

Why should we think upon things that are lovely? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings. ↗

— William James

#blame #common #determines #does #environment

How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure. ↗

— William James

#fact #gain #happiness #how #in fact

It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all. And often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true. ↗

— William James

#beforehand #come #enough #faith #hour

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. ↗

— William James

#advantage #better #character #concrete #entirely

We remained in Texas leading a quiet home life until 1889. ↗

— Calamity Jane

#home life #leading #life #quiet #remained