--- title: "4 Instant Quotes By William James" description: "4 Instant quotes by William James. Plus more from William James and more Instant sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/william-james-228_abyss_the-stream-of-thought-flows-on-but-most_1951857.png" --- > [The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. Of some, no memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-stream-of-thought-flows-on-but-most-of-its-segments-fall-into-the/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/william-james-228_abyss_the-stream-of-thought-flows-on-but-most_1951857.png) > [Let anyone try, I will not say to arrest, but to notice or to attend to, the present moment of time. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/let-anyone-try-i-will-not-say-to-arrest-but-to-notice-or-to-attend-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b87/william-james-228_becoming_let-anyone-try-i-will-not-say-to-arrest_2007500.png) > [Where is it, this present? It has melted in our grasp, fled ere we could touch it, gone in the instant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/where-is-it-this-present-it-has-melted-in-our-grasp-fled-ere-we-could/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/william-james-228_becoming_where-is-it-this-present-it-has-melted-i_2049767.png) > [The instant field of the present is at all times what I call the 'pure' experience. It is only virtually or potentially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-instant-field-of-the-present-is-at-all-times-what-i-call-the-pure/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/william-james-228_all-time_the-instant-field-of-the-present-is-at-a_2310777.png) ## Other authors on Instant ## 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/instant/william-james/#itemlist", "name": "4 Instant Quotes By William James", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. 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