Educational Quotes by William James

Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.

— William James

Habit is second nature, or rather . . . ten times nature.

— William James

To know psychology, therefore, is absolutely no guarantee that we shall be good teacher.

— William James

In all primary school work the principle of multiple impressions is well recognized.

— William James

Habit is a second nature, or rather, it is 'ten times nature'.

— William James

In all this process of acquiring conceptions, a certain instinctive order is followed. There is a native tendency to assimilate certain kinds…

— William James

Considering the inner fitness of things, one would rather think that the very first act of a will endowed with freedom should…

— William James

It is astonishing how many mental operations we can explain when we have once grasped the principles of association

— William James

Man, whatever else he may be, is primarily a practical being, whose mind is given him to aid in adapting him to…

— William James

An idea will infect another with its own emotional interest when they have become both associated together into any sort of a…

— William James

An educated memory depends on an organized system of associations; and its goodness depends on two of their peculiarities: first, on the…

— William James

No reception without reaction, no impression without correlative expression, -this is the great maxim which the teacher ought never to forget.

— William James

Our volitional habits depend, then, first, on what the stock of ideas is which we have; and, second, on the habitual coupling…

— William James

The art of remembering is the art of thinking. When we wish to fix a new thing in either our own mind…

— William James

The difference between an interesting and a tedious teacher consists in little more than the inventiveness by which the one is able…

— William James

All that we need explicitly to note is that, the more the passive attention is relied on, by keeping the material interesting;…

— William James

The entire routine of our memorized acquisitions, for example, is a consequence of nothing but the Law of Contiguity. The words of…

— William James

But when all is said and done, the fact remains that some teachers have a naturally inspiring presence and can make their…

— William James

From all these facts there emerges a very simple abstract program for the teacher to follow in keeping the attention of the…

— William James

If the topic be highly abstract, show its nature by concrete examples. If it be unfamiliar, trace some point of analogy in…

— William James

The exercise of voluntary attention in the schoolroom must therefore be counted one of the most important points of training that take…

— William James

The gist of the matter is this: Every impression that comes in from without, be it a sentence which we hear, an…

— William James

If, then, you wish to insure the interest of your pupils, there is only one way to do it; and that is…

— William James

To begin with, our knowledge grows in spots. The spots may be large or small, but the knowledge ever grows all over...…

— William James

If the topic be highly abstract, show its nature by concrete examples; if it be unfamiliar, make it figure as part of…

— William James

To begin with our knowledge grows in spots. ..What you first gain, ... is probably a small amount of new information, a…

— William James

The most natively interesting object to a man is his own personal self and its fortunes. We accordingly see that the moment…

— William James

We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and as carefully guard against…

— William James

Volition . . . takes place only when there are a number of conflicting systems of ideas, and depends on our having…

— William James

There is a stream, a succession of states, or waves, or fields (or whatever you please to call them), of knowledge, of…

— William James

Be patient and sympathetic with the type of mind that cuts a poor figure in examinations. It may, in the long examination…

— William James

Any object not interesting in itself may become interesting through becoming associated with an object in which an interest already exists. The…

— William James

You perceive now, my friends, what your general or abstract duty is as teachers. Although you have to generate in your pupils…

— William James

Feed the growing human being, feed him with the sort of experience for which from year to year he shows a natural…

— William James