William James Quote: I cannot understand the willingness to act, no...

I cannot understand the willingness to act, no matter how we feel, without the belief that acts are really good and bad.

— William James

Source: The Dilemma of Determinism - 1884

cannot willingness really without act

Select Quotes by William James

There are moments of sentimental and mystical experience… that carry an enormous sense of inner authority and illumination with them when they come. But they come seldom, and they do not come to everyone; and the rest of life makes either no connection with them, or tends to contradict them more than it confirms them.

— William James

Source: The Varieties of Religious Experiences - 1902

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

— William James

The most any one can do is to confess as candidly as he can the grounds for the faith that is in him, and leave his example to work on others as it may.

— William James

Source: The Dilemma of Determinism - 1884