--- title: "10 Higher Quotes By William James" description: "10 Higher quotes by William James. Plus more from William James and more Higher sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90a/william-james-228_awakening_great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-ou_1013042.png" --- > [Great indeed is Fear; but it is not, as our military enthusiasts believe and try to make us believe, the only stimulus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-our-military-enthusiasts/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90a/william-james-228_awakening_great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-ou_1013042.png) > [Our acts of voluntary attending, as brief and fitful as they are, are nevertheless momentous and critical, determining us, as they do,…](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) > [We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can. . . . The more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-must-make-automatic-and-habitual-as-early-as-possible-as-many/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c74/william-james-228_action_we-must-make-automatic-and-habitual-as-e_391127.jpg) > [We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-forget-that-every-good-that-is-worth-possessing-must-be-paid-for-2/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/863/william-james-228_concrete_we-forget-that-every-good-that-is-worth_2338311.png) > [All the higher, more penetrating ideals are revolutionary. They present themselves far less in the guise of effects of past experience than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/all-the-higher-more-penetrating-ideals-are-revolutionary-they-present/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/william-james-228_causes_all-the-higher-more-penetrating-ideals-a_2753790.png) > [Give up the feeling of responsibility, let go your hold, resign the care of your destiny to higher powers, be genuinely indifferent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/give-up-the-feeling-of-responsibility-let-go-your-hold-resign-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3d/william-james-228_acceptance_give-up-the-feeling-of-responsibility-le_988359.png) > [The whole drift of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is only one out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-whole-drift-of-my-education-goes-to-persuade-me-that-the-world-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/william-james-228_certain_the-whole-drift-of-my-education-goes-to_646210.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) > [Take the happiest man, the one most envied by the world, and in nine cases out of ten his inmost consciousness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/take-the-happiest-man-the-one-most-envied-by-the-world-and-in-nine/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/william-james-228_achievement_take-the-happiest-man-the-one-most-envie_1606903.jpg) > [Voices of the glorified urge us onward. They who have passed from the semblances of time to the realities of eternity call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/voices-of-the-glorified-urge-us-onward-they-who-have-passed-from-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/583/william-james-228_come-up_voices-of-the-glorified-urge-us-onward-t_1162525.jpg) ## Other authors on Higher ## 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/higher/william-james/#itemlist", "name": "10 Higher Quotes By William James", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Great indeed is Fear; but it is not, as our military enthusiasts believe and try to make us believe, the only stimulus known for awakening the higher ranges of men's spiritual energy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-our-military-enthusiasts/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90a/william-james-228_awakening_great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-ou_1013042.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90a/william-james-228_awakening_great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-ou_1013042.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90a/william-james-228_awakening_great-indeed-is-fear-but-it-is-not-as-ou_1013042.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Great indeed is Fear; but it is not, as our military enthusiasts believe and try to make us believe, the…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-acts-of-voluntary-attending-as-brief-and-fitful-as-they-are-are/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/william-james-228_attending_our-acts-of-voluntary-attending-as-brief_2828635.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/william-james-228_attending_our-acts-of-voluntary-attending-as-brief_2828635.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08f/william-james-228_attending_our-acts-of-voluntary-attending-as-brief_2828635.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our acts of voluntary attending, as brief and fitful as they are, are nevertheless momentous and critical…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can. . . . 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Everyone knows that on any given day there are energies slumbering in him which the incitements of that day do not call forth. Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. It is evident that our organism has stored-up reserves of energy that are ordinarily not called upon - deeper and deeper strata of explosible material, ready for use by anyone who probes so deep. 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Either his ideals in the line of his achievements are pitched far higher than the achievements themselves, or else he has secret ideals of which the world knows nothing, and in regard to which he inwardly knows himself to be found wanting.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/take-the-happiest-man-the-one-most-envied-by-the-world-and-in-nine/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/william-james-228_achievement_take-the-happiest-man-the-one-most-envie_1606903.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/william-james-228_achievement_take-the-happiest-man-the-one-most-envie_1606903.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/william-james-228_achievement_take-the-happiest-man-the-one-most-envie_1606903.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Take the happiest man, the one most envied by the world, and in nine cases out of ten his inmost…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Voices of the glorified urge us onward. They who have passed from the semblances of time to the realities of eternity call upon us to advance. The rest that awaits us invites us forward. We do not pine for our rest before God wills it. We long for no inglorious rest. We are thankful rather for the invaluable training of difficulty, the loving discipline of danger and strife. Yet in the midst of it all the prospect of rest invites us heavenward. Through all, and above all, God cries, \"Go forward!\" \"Come up higher!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/voices-of-the-glorified-urge-us-onward-they-who-have-passed-from-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/583/william-james-228_come-up_voices-of-the-glorified-urge-us-onward-t_1162525.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/583/william-james-228_come-up_voices-of-the-glorified-urge-us-onward-t_1162525.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/583/william-james-228_come-up_voices-of-the-glorified-urge-us-onward-t_1162525.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Voices of the glorified urge us onward. 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