173 quotes
It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all. And often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true.
The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
The gods we stand by are the gods we need and can use, the gods whose demands on us are reinforcements of our demands on ourselves and on one another.
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
Modern war is so expensive that we feel trade to be a better avenue to plunder; but modern man inherits all the innate pugnacity and all the love of glory of his ancestors.
The Moral Equivalent of War (1906)
Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half-awake. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources.
Memories and Studies (1911)
The study a posteriori of the distribution of consciousness shows it to be exactly such as we might expect in an organ added for the sake of steering a nervous system grown too complex to regulate itself.
The Principles of Psychology (1890)
In modern eyes, precious though wars may be they must not be waged solely for the sake of the ideal harvest. Only when forced upon one, is a war now thought permissible.
The Moral Equivalent of War (1906)
Why should they not blush with indignant shame if the community that owns them is vile in any way whatsoever? Individuals, daily more numerous, now feel this civic passion.
The Moral Equivalent of War (1906)
Religion thus makes easy and felicitous what in any case is necessary; and if it be the only agency that can accomplish this result, its vital importance as a human faculty stands vindicated beyond dispute.
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
An unlearned carpenter of my acquaintance once said in my hearing: "There is very little difference between one man and another; but what little there is, is very important." This distinction seems to me to go to the root of the matter.
The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
The concrete man has but one interest — to be right. That to him is the art of all arts, and all means are fair which help him to it.
The Sentiment of Rationality (1882)
Men are now proud of belonging to a conquering nation, and without a murmur they lay down their persons and their wealth, if by so doing they may fend off subjection.
The Moral Equivalent of War (1906)
The central one is the loss of all the worry, the sense that all is ultimately well with one, the peace, the harmony, the willingness to be, even though the outer conditions should remain the same.
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
First, you know, a new theory is attacked as absurd; then it is admitted to be true, but obvious and insignificant; finally it is seen to be so important that its adversaries claim that they themselves discovered it.
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907)
For our ancestors, dreams, hallucinations, revelations, and cock-and-bull stories were inextricably mixed with facts.
[M]ost of what happens actually is forgotten.
The Principles of Psychology (1890)
With no attempt there can be no failure; with no failure, no humiliation. So our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do. . . .
Self-acceptance is the key to personal growth. By embracing our flaws and limitations, we can develop resilience and a deeper understanding of ourselves, leading to improved mental health and well-being.
An attitude of orientation, is what the pragmatic method means. The attitude of looking away from first things, principles, "categories", supposed necessities; and of looking towards last things, fruits, consequences, facts.
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907)
The richness of its allegorical meaning also is due to his being there — that is, the world is all the richer for having a devil in it, so long as we keep our foot upon his neck.
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
The militarily-patriotic and the romantic-minded everywhere, and especially the professional military class, refuse to admit for a moment that war may be a transitory phenomenon in social evolution.
The Moral Equivalent of War (1906)