William James Quotes on Life
William James was a 19th and early 20th-century American philosopher and psychologist, one of the founders of pragmatism and a central figure in the early development of modern psychology. This page collects quotes attributed to William James on the topic of life, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
-
Attributed to William James:
“Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”
-
Attributed to William James:
“Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.”
-
Attributed to William James:
“Pragmatism asks its usual question. Grant an idea or belief to be true, what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life?”
-
Attributed to William James:
“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they have got a second.”
-
Attributed to William James:
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”