"If the topic be highly abstract, show its……" — William James

"If the topic be highly abstract, show its nature by concrete examples; if it be unfamiliar, make it figure as part of a story; if it be difficult, couple its acquisition with some prospect of personal gain. Above all things, make sure that it shall run through certain inner changes, since no unvarying object can possibly hold the mental field for long. Let your pupil wander from one aspect to another of your subject, if you do not wish him to wander from it altogether to something else, variety in unity being the secret of all interesting talk and thought."

— William James

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484 Quotes by William James

William James has 484 quotes on this site. A few more worth reading:

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More Abstract Quotes

This quote is filed under Abstract Quotes, one of 741 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:

To those who have exhausted politics, nothing remains but abstract thought. — Honore de Balzac
I was a really lousy artist as a kid. Too abstract expressionist; or I'd draw a big ram's head, really… — Jean-Michel Basquiat
In the abstract conception of universal wrong, all concrete responsibility vanishes. — Theodor Adorno
None of the abstract concepts comes closer to fulfilled utopia than that of eternal peace. — Theodor Adorno
Good science fiction is intelligent. It asks big questions that are on people's minds. It's not impossible. It has some… — Nicolas Cage
Science fiction is a way that I can go into the abstract, go into the imagination, and audiences are still… — Nicolas Cage
I am searching for abstract ways of expressing reality, abstract forms that will enlighten my own mystery. — Eric Cantona
Abstract art: a product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered. — Al Capp
Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change… — Saul Alinsky
'Woman on the Plaza,' with its distinct horizon, snow-like surfaces, wintry wall, stunning sunlight, sharp shadows, and hurrying figure, would… — Sam Abell
Old ideas give way slowly; for they are more than abstract logical forms and categories. They are habits, predispositions, deeply… — John Dewey
It is difficult to talk about fashion in the abstract, without a human body before my eyes, without drawings, without… — Giorgio Armani

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