William James Quotes

On deciding what not to worry about at work:

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

On choosing what shapes you:

My experience is what I agree to attend to.

On building a routine that sustains you:

Habit is the enormous flywheel of society.

On the habits you are forming right now:

Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state.

Naming what you actually need from a relationship that feels one sided:

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.

Deciding whether to trust an unconventional approach to a problem at work:

Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.

On which fights are worth fighting:

We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.

Deciding whether to keep resisting a loss or start moving through it:

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.

On building habits that work for you instead of against you:

The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.

Deciding whether to wait for confidence or act your way into it:

If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.

On whether truth is fixed or discovered through action:

Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is made true by events.

Weighing whether to push a bold idea alone or bring others along:

The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.

Choosing whether to act as if life is worth the effort you are about to put in:

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

Deciding whether to settle for a smaller version of yourself:

Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.