--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Great emergencies and crises show us how…" description: "\"Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.\" — William James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png" --- # Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our… ![“Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png) > “Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Crises reveal the true value of essential resources, often underestimated until needed. **In simple terms:** Crises expose hidden resource importance. Key Takeaway Recognize and protect vital assets. Themes crisis resource value awareness Mood thoughtful urgent Type lecture philosophical When to use this quote - emergency planning - financial safety nets - healthcare Key Concepts psychology philosophy human resilience Questions to Reflect On - What resources are truly essential? - How can you safeguard them? A Different Perspective Overreliance on resources can cause complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“Great emergencies and crisis show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-emergencies-and-crisis-show-us-how-much-greater-our-vital/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/it-has-long-been-a-grave-question-whether-any-government-not-too/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Our Great Lakes, harbors, ports, and rivers provide not only vital resources for us to live, but an entire maritime way of life for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-s-miller/our-great-lakes-harbors-ports-and-rivers-provide-not-only-vital/) [Candice S. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-s-miller/) > [It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/it-is-not-an-easy-job-to-govern-china-i-am-aware-of-that-there-are/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [It is only in the lonely emergencies of life that our creed is tested: then routine maxims fail, and we fall back on our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-only-in-the-lonely-emergencies-of-life-that-our-creed-is-tested/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [So you see that the process of education, taken in a large way, may be described as nothing but the process of acquiring ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/so-you-see-that-the-process-of-education-taken-in-a-large-way-may-be/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [From the beginning, we failed to overcome Europe's division. The Berlin Wall fell, but invisible walls were moved to the East of Europe. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/from-the-beginning-we-failed-to-overcome-europe-s-division-the-berlin/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [When established identities become outworn or unfinished ones threaten to remain incomplete, special crises compel men to wage holy wars, by the cruelest means,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-established-identities-become-outworn-or-unfinished-ones/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Real change doesn't come without crisis. Childbirth doesn't come without crisis. I think that's happening with humanity now. Our growth has generated multiple crises...and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/real-change-doesn-t-come-without-crisis-childbirth-doesn-t-come/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [God doesn't want your crises-mode promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrin-patrick/god-doesn-t-want-your-crises-mode-promises/) [Darrin Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrin-patrick/) > [Whenever I get on stage, I feel safe and in control. Life can be so uncertain, but on stage, I always know how a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-o-mara/whenever-i-get-on-stage-i-feel-safe-and-in-control-life-can-be-so/) [Kate O'Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-o-mara/) > [“It’s only going to take another week of this and we’re going to have the mother of all humanitarian crises on our hands. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-f-hamilton/it-s-only-going-to-take-another-week-of-this-and-we-re-going-to-have/) [Peter F. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-f-hamilton/) > [Because when I have been busy at the United Nations during crises, it has meant working day and night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-frederick/because-when-i-have-been-busy-at-the-united-nations-during-crises-it/) Pauline Frederick > [I go through major crises every few months, but then I have great peaks of belief and creativity. I'm a weird kind of animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-may/i-go-through-major-crises-every-few-months-but-then-i-have-great/) [Brian May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-may/) > [The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-turning-points-of-lives-are-not-the-great-moments-the-real-crises/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) ## 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/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Crises quotes > [The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-turning-points-of-lives-are-not-the-great-moments-the-real-crises/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [I go through major crises every few months, but then I have great peaks of belief and creativity. I'm a weird kind of animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-may/i-go-through-major-crises-every-few-months-but-then-i-have-great/) [Brian May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-may/) > [Because when I have been busy at the United Nations during crises, it has meant working day and night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-frederick/because-when-i-have-been-busy-at-the-united-nations-during-crises-it/) Pauline Frederick > [“It’s only going to take another week of this and we’re going to have the mother of all humanitarian crises on our hands. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-f-hamilton/it-s-only-going-to-take-another-week-of-this-and-we-re-going-to-have/) [Peter F. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-f-hamilton/) > [Whenever I get on stage, I feel safe and in control. Life can be so uncertain, but on stage, I always know how a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-o-mara/whenever-i-get-on-stage-i-feel-safe-and-in-control-life-can-be-so/) [Kate O'Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-o-mara/) > [God doesn't want your crises-mode promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrin-patrick/god-doesn-t-want-your-crises-mode-promises/) [Darrin Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrin-patrick/) > [Real change doesn't come without crisis. Childbirth doesn't come without crisis. I think that's happening with humanity now. Our growth has generated multiple crises...and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/real-change-doesn-t-come-without-crisis-childbirth-doesn-t-come/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [When established identities become outworn or unfinished ones threaten to remain incomplete, special crises compel men to wage holy wars, by the cruelest means,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-established-identities-become-outworn-or-unfinished-ones/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [From the beginning, we failed to overcome Europe's division. The Berlin Wall fell, but invisible walls were moved to the East of Europe. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/from-the-beginning-we-failed-to-overcome-europe-s-division-the-berlin/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [In the immediate postwar era, financial crises in advanced countries were rare events, and before 1970 did not happen at all. Since then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-m-taylor/in-the-immediate-postwar-era-financial-crises-in-advanced-countries/) [Alan M. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-m-taylor/) > [In modern political society it is probably a fact that national leadership can heighten foreign crises to the point where war becomes almost inevitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-ekirch/in-modern-political-society-it-is-probably-a-fact-that-national/) Arthur Ekirch > [In the seed and the soil, we find the answers to every one of the crises we face. The crises of violence and war.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/in-the-seed-and-the-soil-we-find-the-answers-to-every-one-of-the/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) > [Over the years, I've been involved in many business crises. I qualify this, since my crises have never involved life and death or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-feld/over-the-years-i-ve-been-involved-in-many-business-crises-i-qualify/) [Brad Feld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-feld/) > [“Generally, crises were Mom's domain. Dad's job was to listen, nod, act curmudgeonly, and offer to pay for things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-wingate/generally-crises-were-mom-s-domain-dad-s-job-was-to-listen-nod-act/) [Lisa Wingate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-wingate/) > [Crisis and pressure help foster change - that's why I'm not so pessimistic towards crises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-schauble/crisis-and-pressure-help-foster-change-that-s-why-i-m-not-so/) [Wolfgang Schauble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-schauble/) Browse all 198 Crises quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how-much-greater-our-vital/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crises" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how-much-greater-our-vital/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/william-james-228_crises_great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how_2162296.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Great emergencies and crises show us...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how-much-greater-our-vital/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/great-emergencies-and-crises-show-us-how-much-greater-our-vital/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```