More quotes by William James

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes."
"It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all."
"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."
"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?"
"If merely 'feeling good' could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely valid human experience."