--- title: "5 Awake Quotes By William James" description: "5 Awake quotes by William James. Plus more from William James and more Awake sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f8/william-james-228_awake_everyone-knows-that-on-any-given-day-the_697053.jpg" --- > [Everyone knows that on any given day there are energies slumbering in him which the incitement's of that day do not call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/everyone-knows-that-on-any-given-day-there-are-energies-slumbering-in/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f8/william-james-228_awake_everyone-knows-that-on-any-given-day-the_697053.jpg) > [Compared to what we ought to be, we are half awake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/compared-to-what-we-ought-to-be-we-are-half-awake/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/524/william-james-228_awake_compared-to-what-we-ought-to-be-we-are-h_729455.png) > [Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/compared-with-what-we-ought-to-be-we-are-only-half-awake-our-fires/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07d/william-james-228_awake_compared-with-what-we-ought-to-be-we-are_799869.jpg) > [Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/compared-to-what-we-ought-to-be-we-are-only-half-awake-we-are-making/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e2/william-james-228_awake_compared-to-what-we-ought-to-be-we-are-o_1071043.png) > [Most of us can learn to live in perfect comfort on higher levels of power. Everyone knows that on any given day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-of-us-can-learn-to-live-in-perfect-comfort-on-higher-levels-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37f/william-james-228_achievement_most-of-us-can-learn-to-live-in-perfect_2459045.png) ## Other authors on Awake ## 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/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awake/william-james/#itemlist", "name": "5 Awake Quotes By William James", "numberOfItems": 5, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone knows that on any given day there are energies slumbering in him which the incitement's of that day do not call forth. 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