--- title: "9 Impulse Quotes By William James" description: "9 Impulse quotes by William James. Plus more from William James and more Impulse sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png" --- > [The impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-indestructible-in-the-race/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png) > [Impulse without reason is enough, and reason without impulse is a poor makeshift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/impulse-without-reason-is-enough-and-reason-without-impulse-is-a-poor/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/william-james-228_enough_impulse-without-reason-is-enough-and-rea_1624431.png) > [The thinker philosophizes as the lover loves. Even were the consequences not only useless but harmful, he must obey his impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-thinker-philosophizes-as-the-lover-loves-even-were-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/william-james-228_consequence_the-thinker-philosophizes-as-the-lover-l_748245.png) > [The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-community-stagnates-without-the-impulse-of-the-individual-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/344/william-james-228_community_the-community-stagnates-without-the-impu_1733800.jpg) > [The love of life, at any and every level of development, is the religious impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-love-of-life-at-any-and-every-level-of-development-is-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c05/william-james-228_development_the-love-of-life-at-any-and-every-level_3004456.png) > [Social evolution is a resultant of the interaction of two wholly distinct factors: the individual ... bearing all the power of initiative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/social-evolution-is-a-resultant-of-the-interaction-of-two-wholly/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e29/william-james-228_adopting_social-evolution-is-a-resultant-of-the-i_2464541.png) > [Fatalism, whose solving word in all crises of behavior is All striving is vain, will never reign supreme, for the impulse to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/fatalism-whose-solving-word-in-all-crises-of-behavior-is-all-striving/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/faf/william-james-228_behavior_fatalism-whose-solving-word-in-all-crise_2692124.jpg) > [Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's Utopias should all be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/or-if-the-hypothesis-were-offered-us-of-a-world-in-which-messrs/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/william-james-228_accepted_or-if-the-hypothesis-were-offered-us-of_1446818.png) > [The further limits of our being plunge, it seems to me, into an altogether other dimension of existence from the sensible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-further-limits-of-our-being-plunge-it-seems-to-me-into-an/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c72/william-james-228_accounts_the-further-limits-of-our-being-plunge-i_604979.jpg) ## Other authors on Impulse ## 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/impulse/william-james/#itemlist", "name": "9 Impulse Quotes By William James", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-indestructible-in-the-race/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race.” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Impulse without reason is enough, and reason without impulse is a poor makeshift.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/impulse-without-reason-is-enough-and-reason-without-impulse-is-a-poor/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/william-james-228_enough_impulse-without-reason-is-enough-and-rea_1624431.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/william-james-228_enough_impulse-without-reason-is-enough-and-rea_1624431.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48e/william-james-228_enough_impulse-without-reason-is-enough-and-rea_1624431.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Impulse without reason is enough, and reason without impulse is a poor makeshift.” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The thinker philosophizes as the lover loves. 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So far as our ideal impulses originate in this region (and most of them do originate in it, for we find them possessing us in a way for which we cannot articulately account), we belong to it in a more intimate sense than that in which we belong to the visible world, for we belong in the most intimate sense wherever our ideals belong.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-further-limits-of-our-being-plunge-it-seems-to-me-into-an/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c72/william-james-228_accounts_the-further-limits-of-our-being-plunge-i_604979.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c72/william-james-228_accounts_the-further-limits-of-our-being-plunge-i_604979.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c72/william-james-228_accounts_the-further-limits-of-our-being-plunge-i_604979.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The further limits of our being plunge, it seems to me, into an altogether other dimension of existence from…” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/william-james/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/william-james/", "name": "Impulse Quotes by William James", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/william-james/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png" }, "description": "9 Impulse quotes by William James. 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