---
title: "2 Attending Quotes By William James"
description: "2 Attending quotes by William James. Plus more from William James and more Attending sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/844/william-james-228_attending_a-genius-is-the-man-in-whom-you-are-leas_217941.png"
---

> [A genius is the man in whom you are least likely to find the power of attending to anything insipid or distasteful in itself. He breaks his engagements, leaves his letters unanswered, neglects his family duties incorrigibly, because he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/a-genius-is-the-man-in-whom-you-are-least-likely-to-find-the-power-of/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/844/william-james-228_attending_a-genius-is-the-man-in-whom-you-are-leas_217941.png)

> [Our acts of voluntary attending, as brief and fitful as they are, are nevertheless momentous and critical, determining us, as they do, to higher or lower destinies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-acts-of-voluntary-attending-as-brief-and-fitful-as-they-are-are/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/william-james-228_attending_our-acts-of-voluntary-attending-as-brief_2828635.png)

## More by William James

> [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

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