--- title: "17 Differences Quotes By William James" description: "17 Differences quotes by William James. Plus more from William James and more Differences sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/william-james-228_difference_a-difference-which-makes-no-difference-i_848841.png" --- > [A difference which makes no difference is no difference at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/a-difference-which-makes-no-difference-is-no-difference-at-all/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/william-james-228_difference_a-difference-which-makes-no-difference-i_848841.png) > [I will act as if I do make a difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/i-will-act-as-if-i-do-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a7/william-james-228_action_i-will-act-as-if-i-do-make-a-difference_432651.png) > [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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/william-james-228_difference_there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that_53319.png) > [The difference between objective and subjective extension is one of relation to a context solely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-difference-between-objective-and-subjective-extension-is-one-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/william-james-228_differences_the-difference-between-objective-and-sub_2110055.png) > [ \[T\]here is very little difference between one person and another, but what little difference ther eis, is very important. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/t-here-is-very-little-difference-between-one-person-and-another-but/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/william-james-228_differences_t-here-is-very-little-difference-between_1584956.png) > [There are no differences but differences of degree between different degrees of difference and no difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-are-no-differences-but-differences-of-degree-between-different/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/william-james-228_degrees_there-are-no-differences-but-differences_1208478.png) > [Man's chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities. Prune his extravagance, sober him, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-lies-in-the-exuberant-excess-2/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/william-james-228_brutes_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_2196386.png) > [It makes a tremendous emotional and practical difference to one whether one accepts the universe in the drab discolored way of stoic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-makes-a-tremendous-emotional-and-practical-difference-to-one/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/william-james-228_accepting_it-makes-a-tremendous-emotional-and-prac_668019.png) > [We can act as if there were a God; feel as if we were free; consider Nature as if she were full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-can-act-as-if-there-were-a-god-feel-as-if-we-were-free-consider/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/william-james-228_design_we-can-act-as-if-there-were-a-god-feel-a_2824042.png) > [The difference between the first and second-best things in art absolutely seems to escape verbal definition -- it is a matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-difference-between-the-first-and-second-best-things-in-art/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/william-james-228_art_the-difference-between-the-first-and-sec_1893512.png) > [True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot. That is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/true-ideas-are-those-that-we-can-assimilate-validate-corroborate-and/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/william-james-228_differences_true-ideas-are-those-that-we-can-assimil_1783244.jpg) > [From a pragmatic point of view, the difference between living against a background of foreigness (an indifferent Universe) and one of intimacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/from-a-pragmatic-point-of-view-the-difference-between-living-against/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/633/william-james-228_backgrounds_from-a-pragmatic-point-of-view-the-diffe_1945055.jpg) > [An unlearned carpenter of my acquaintance once said in my hearing: "There is very little difference between one man and another; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/an-unlearned-carpenter-of-my-acquaintance-once-said-in-my-hearing/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22e/william-james-228_acquaintance_an-unlearned-carpenter-of-my-acquaintanc_217541.jpg) > [This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/this-overcoming-of-all-the-usual-barriers-between-the-individual-and/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/william-james-228_absolutes_this-overcoming-of-all-the-usual-barrier_2850219.png) > [The difference between an interesting and a tedious teacher consists in little more than the inventiveness by which the one is able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-difference-between-an-interesting-and-a-tedious-teacher-consists/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/william-james-228_able_the-difference-between-an-interesting-an_1918446.jpg) > [Pragmatism asks its usual question. "Grant an idea or belief to be true," it says, "what concrete difference will its being true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/pragmatism-asks-its-usual-question-grant-an-idea-or-belief-to-be-true/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/william-james-228_actual-life_pragmatism-asks-its-usual-question-grant_1174434.jpg) > [Man's chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities his preeminence over them simply and solely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-lies-in-the-exuberant-excess/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/william-james-228_aesthetic_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_1283678.png) ## Other authors on Differences - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 40 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/barack-obama/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-branson-78442.jpg) Richard Branson 27 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/richard-branson/) - [Mark Twain 23 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/mark-twain/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-dalai-lama-26000.jpg) Dalai Lama 21 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/dalai-lama/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 20 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-audre-lorde-15604.jpg) Audre Lorde 20 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/audre-lorde/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rajneesh-77002.jpg) Rajneesh 18 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/rajneesh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-swami-vivekananda-88348.jpg) Swami Vivekananda 17 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/swami-vivekananda/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-john-c-maxwell-51081.jpg) John C. Maxwell 17 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/john-c-maxwell/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-jim-rohn-49870.jpg) Jim Rohn 17 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/jim-rohn/) - [Aristotle 17 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/aristotle/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-ronald-reagan-81107.jpg) Ronald Reagan 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/ronald-reagan/) ## 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/differences/william-james/#itemlist", "name": "17 Differences Quotes By William James", "numberOfItems": 17, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A difference which makes no difference is no difference at all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/a-difference-which-makes-no-difference-is-no-difference-at-all/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/william-james-228_difference_a-difference-which-makes-no-difference-i_848841.png", "contentUrl": 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the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities. Prune his extravagance, sober him, and you undo him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-lies-in-the-exuberant-excess-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/william-james-228_brutes_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_2196386.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/william-james-228_brutes_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_2196386.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/william-james-228_brutes_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_2196386.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man's chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities. Prune…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It makes a tremendous emotional and practical difference to one whether one accepts the universe in the drab discolored way of stoic resignation to necessity, or with the passionate happiness of Christian saints.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-makes-a-tremendous-emotional-and-practical-difference-to-one/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/william-james-228_accepting_it-makes-a-tremendous-emotional-and-prac_668019.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/william-james-228_accepting_it-makes-a-tremendous-emotional-and-prac_668019.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/william-james-228_accepting_it-makes-a-tremendous-emotional-and-prac_668019.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It makes a tremendous emotional and practical difference to one whether one accepts the universe in the drab…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can act as if there were a God; feel as if we were free; consider Nature as if she were full of special designs; lay plans as if we were to be immortal; and we find then that these words do make a genuine difference in our moral life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-can-act-as-if-there-were-a-god-feel-as-if-we-were-free-consider/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/william-james-228_design_we-can-act-as-if-there-were-a-god-feel-a_2824042.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/william-james-228_design_we-can-act-as-if-there-were-a-god-feel-a_2824042.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/william-james-228_design_we-can-act-as-if-there-were-a-god-feel-a_2824042.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We can act as if there were a God; feel as if we were free; consider Nature as if she were full of special…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The difference between the first and second-best things in art absolutely seems to escape verbal definition -- it is a matter of a hair, a shade, an inward quiver of some kind -- yet what miles away in the point of preciousness!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-difference-between-the-first-and-second-best-things-in-art/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/william-james-228_art_the-difference-between-the-first-and-sec_1893512.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/william-james-228_art_the-difference-between-the-first-and-sec_1893512.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/william-james-228_art_the-difference-between-the-first-and-sec_1893512.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The difference between the first and second-best things in art absolutely seems to escape verbal definition…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot. That is the practical difference it makes to us to have true ideas; that therefore is the meaning of truth, for it is all that truth is known as.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/true-ideas-are-those-that-we-can-assimilate-validate-corroborate-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/william-james-228_differences_true-ideas-are-those-that-we-can-assimil_1783244.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/william-james-228_differences_true-ideas-are-those-that-we-can-assimil_1783244.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/979/william-james-228_differences_true-ideas-are-those-that-we-can-assimil_1783244.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "From a pragmatic point of view, the difference between living against a background of foreigness (an indifferent Universe) and one of intimacy (a benevolent Universe) means the difference between a general habit of wariness and one of trust.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/from-a-pragmatic-point-of-view-the-difference-between-living-against/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/633/william-james-228_backgrounds_from-a-pragmatic-point-of-view-the-diffe_1945055.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/633/william-james-228_backgrounds_from-a-pragmatic-point-of-view-the-diffe_1945055.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/633/william-james-228_backgrounds_from-a-pragmatic-point-of-view-the-diffe_1945055.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“From a pragmatic point of view, the difference between living against a background of foreigness (an…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/an-unlearned-carpenter-of-my-acquaintance-once-said-in-my-hearing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22e/william-james-228_acquaintance_an-unlearned-carpenter-of-my-acquaintanc_217541.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22e/william-james-228_acquaintance_an-unlearned-carpenter-of-my-acquaintanc_217541.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/22e/william-james-228_acquaintance_an-unlearned-carpenter-of-my-acquaintanc_217541.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An unlearned carpenter of my acquaintance once said in my hearing: \"There is very little difference between…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/this-overcoming-of-all-the-usual-barriers-between-the-individual-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/william-james-228_absolutes_this-overcoming-of-all-the-usual-barrier_2850219.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/william-james-228_absolutes_this-overcoming-of-all-the-usual-barrier_2850219.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cc/william-james-228_absolutes_this-overcoming-of-all-the-usual-barrier_2850219.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The difference between an interesting and a tedious teacher consists in little more than the inventiveness by which the one is able to mediate these associations and connections, and in the dullness in discovering such transitions which the other shows.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-difference-between-an-interesting-and-a-tedious-teacher-consists/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/william-james-228_able_the-difference-between-an-interesting-an_1918446.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/william-james-228_able_the-difference-between-an-interesting-an_1918446.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/103/william-james-228_able_the-difference-between-an-interesting-an_1918446.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The difference between an interesting and a tedious teacher consists in little more than the inventiveness…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pragmatism asks its usual question. \"Grant an idea or belief to be true,\" it says, \"what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth's cash-value in experiential terms?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/pragmatism-asks-its-usual-question-grant-an-idea-or-belief-to-be-true/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/william-james-228_actual-life_pragmatism-asks-its-usual-question-grant_1174434.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/william-james-228_actual-life_pragmatism-asks-its-usual-question-grant_1174434.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/william-james-228_actual-life_pragmatism-asks-its-usual-question-grant_1174434.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pragmatism asks its usual question. \"Grant an idea or belief to be true,\" it says, \"what concrete difference…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man's chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities his preeminence over them simply and solely in the number and in the fantastic and unnecessary character of his wants, physical, moral, aesthetic, and intellectual. Had his whole life not been a quest for the superfluous, he would never have established himself as inexpugnably as he has done in the necessary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-lies-in-the-exuberant-excess/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/william-james-228_aesthetic_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_1283678.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/william-james-228_aesthetic_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_1283678.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/william-james-228_aesthetic_man-s-chief-difference-from-the-brutes-l_1283678.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man's chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities his…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/william-james/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/william-james/", "name": "Differences Quotes by William James", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/william-james/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/william-james-228_difference_a-difference-which-makes-no-difference-i_848841.png" }, "description": "17 Differences quotes by William James. 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