William James

American philosopher and psychologist, 1842-1910

9 quotes in the MindQuotes library.

About

William James, born in New York in 1842, is a major figure in American psychology and philosophy. He earned his M.D. from Harvard in 1869 but never practiced medicine, instead teaching at Harvard from 1872, first anatomy and physiology, then psychology and philosophy. In 1875, he established the first experimental psychology demonstration laboratory in the United States. His magnum opus, The Principles of Psychology (1890), introduced the concept of the 'stream of consciousness'. He developed the James-Lange theory of emotion with Carl Lange. A founder of American pragmatism alongside Charles Sanders Peirce, he expounded his ideas in works such as The Will to Believe (1897) and Pragmatism (1907).

Major works

The Principles of Psychology (1890)psychology treatise
The Will to Believe (1897)philosophical essay
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)lectures
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907)philosophical essay
Essays in Radical Empiricism (1912)essay collection

Key milestones

1869Earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
1875Established the first experimental psychology demonstration laboratory in the United States at Harvard.
1907Retired from teaching at Harvard.

Themes

PragmatismStream of consciousnessRadical empiricismPsychology of religionWill to believe

Sources: psychology.fas.harvard.edu · plato.stanford.edu · oxfordreference.com

“Action may not bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”

— William JamesTheme · Happiness

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“Accomplishment, like life, will prove to be a journey, not a destination. The greatest discovery is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of his mind.”

— William JamesTheme · Personal Development

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“The greatest discovery is t at a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of his mind.”

— William JamesTheme · Personal Development

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“. . ..... 0A, To change one's life we must start immediately and do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.”

— William JamesTheme · Personal Development

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“It is our attitude at the end of a difficult task, which more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.”

— William JamesTheme · Motivation

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“The secret of success is to never let down and never let up. - .- .. - -- . .... . None of the secrets of success will work unless you do. Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that assures the successful outcome of any venture.”

— William JamesTheme · Success

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“Most of us can learn to live in perfect comfort on higher levels of power. Everyone knows that on any given day there are energies slumbering in him which the incitements of that day do not call forth. Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. It is evident that our organism has stored-up reserves of energy that are ordinarily not called upon, deeper and deeper strata of explosible material, ready for use by anyone who probes so deep. The human individual usually lives far within his limits.”

— William JamesTheme · Personal Development

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“He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed.”

— William JamesTheme · Motivation

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“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”

— William JamesTheme · Psychology

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