More quotes by William James

"Pragmatism asks its usual question. "Grant an idea or belief to be true,"it says, "what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth's cash-value in experiential terms?"
"Wisdom is seeing something in a non-habitual manner."
"The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it."
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
"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."