--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our minds thus grow in spots; and like…" description: "\"“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 as much of our ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg" --- # Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the… ![“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 as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and belief, as we can. We patch and tinker more than we renew. The novelty soaks in; it stains the…” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg) > ““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 as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and belief, as we can. We patch and tinker more than we renew. The novelty soaks in; it stains the ancient mass; but it is also tinged by what absorbs it. Our past apperceives and co-operates; and in the new equilibrium in which each step forward in the process of learning terminates, it happens relatively seldom that the new fact is added raw. More usually it is embedded cooked, as one might say, or stewed down in the sauce of the old. New truths thus are resultants of new experiences and of old truths combined and mutually modifying one another. And since this is the case in the changes opinion of to-day, there is no reason to assume that it has not been so at all times. It follows that very ancient modes of thought may have survived through all the later changes in men's opinions. The most primitive ways of thinking may not yet be wholly expunged. Like our five fingers, our ear-bones, our rudimentary caudal appendage, or our other 'vestigial' peculiarities, they may remain as indelible tokens of events in our race-history. Our ancestors may at certain moments have struck into ways of thinking which they might conceivably not have found. But once they did so, and after the fact, the inheritance continues. When you begin a piece of music in a certain key, you must keep the key to the end. You may alter your house ad libitum, but the ground-plan of the first architect persists - you can make great changes, but you cannot change a Gothic church into a Doric temple. You may rinse and rinse the bottle, but you can't get the taste of the medicine or whiskey that first filled it wholly out. My thesis now is this, that our fundamental ways of thinking about things are discoveries of exceedingly remote ancestors, which have been able to preserve themselves throughout the experience of all subsequent time. They form one great stage of equilibrium in the human mind's development, the stage of common sense. Other stages have grafted themselves upon this stage, but have never succeeded in displacing it.”” [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. Human cognition builds on existing mental structures, integrating new information into entrenched frameworks rather than replacing them outright. **In simple terms:** Ideas evolve incrementally, not by sudden overhaul. Key Takeaway Old beliefs shape how new facts are understood. Themes cognitive continuity cultural inheritance knowledge integration psychological inertia historical persistence Mood reflective analytical skeptical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - teaching complex concepts - revising organizational policies - adapting scientific theories - personal belief revision Key Concepts mental models learning processes cognitive bias cultural evolution Practical Applications - designing curricula that link new material to prior knowledge - crafting change-management strategies that respect existing mindsets Questions to Reflect On - How do entrenched beliefs limit innovation? - In what ways can we deliberately reshape foundational assumptions? A Different Perspective Some breakthroughs fundamentally overturn previous paradigms, showing that not all knowledge is merely a layered accumulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [New experiences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-experiences/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Pragmatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pragmatism/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [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-2/) [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-truslow-adams/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread-3/) [James Truslow Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-truslow-adams/) > [“Where There is a will there is a will to search and discover a better day Where a positive heart is all you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/where-there-is-a-will-there-is-a-will-to-search-and-discover-a-better/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“Thoughtful minds grow, from the sharpened awareness of those who have lived life; through love, curiosity and tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha-mirza/thoughtful-minds-grow-from-the-sharpened-awareness-of-those-who-have/) [Aisha Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha-mirza/) > [If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/if-a-man-keeps-cherishing-his-old-knowledge-so-as-continually-to-be/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Learning is about much more than science and math. Doing theater, music, and art in school really helps children's minds grow because they're using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-taymor/learning-is-about-much-more-than-science-and-math-doing-theater-music/) [Julie Taymor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-taymor/) > [“Thoughtful minds grow, in the sharpened awareness of those who have lived life; through love, curiosity and tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha-mirza/thoughtful-minds-grow-in-the-sharpened-awareness-of-those-who-have/) [Aisha Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha-mirza/) > [“You know, old books are a big problem for us. Old knowledge in general. We call it OK. Old knowledge, OK. Did you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sloan/you-know-old-books-are-a-big-problem-for-us-old-knowledge-in-general/) [Robin Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sloan/) > [I'm old and my knowledge is strictly horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-proops/i-m-old-and-my-knowledge-is-strictly-horizontal/) [Greg Proops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-proops/) > [The old knowledge had been difficult but not distressing. It had been all paradox and myth, and it had made sense. The new knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-old-knowledge-had-been-difficult-but-not-distressing-it-had-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [When intelligent and sensible people despise knowledge in their old age, it is only because they have asked too much of it and of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-intelligent-and-sensible-people-despise-knowledge-in-their-old/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Knowledge is an old error remembering its youth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-picabia/knowledge-is-an-old-error-remembering-its-youth/) [Francis Picabia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-picabia/) > [“For after all, if the lives of most men are examined in detail, it will be found that they have been experts of immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/for-after-all-if-the-lives-of-most-men-are-examined-in-detail-it-will/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Once you've accumulated sufficient knowledge to get by, you're too old to remember it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/once-you-ve-accumulated-sufficient-knowledge-to-get-by-you-re-too-old/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/success-or-failure-depends-more-upon-attitude-than-upon-capacity/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Faith quotes > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Keep the faith, and keep going strong!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/keep-the-faith-and-keep-going-strong/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/no-man-is-prejudiced-in-favour-of-a-thing-knowing-it-to-be-wrong-he/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Holiness sincerity, and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/holiness-sincerity-and-faith/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“The only limitations for your life are the limiting beliefs in your mind. —Matt Morris”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-morris-1/the-only-limitations-for-your-life-are-the-limiting-beliefs-in-your/) Matt Morris (1 > [“Just because your faith is shaken doesn’t mean the faith is shaken. The eternal truths of the Kingdom aren’t altered or affected by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-arthur/just-because-your-faith-is-shaken-doesn-t-mean-the-faith-is-shaken/) [Sarah Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-arthur/) > [Grit, determination, the right amount of crazy, self belief - everything it takes to be a champion. I have that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-poirier/grit-determination-the-right-amount-of-crazy-self-belief-everything/) [Dustin Poirier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-poirier/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Once you pull the trigger, you've got to throw balls aggressively and with conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-smith/once-you-pull-the-trigger-you-ve-got-to-throw-balls-aggressively-and/) [Alex Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-smith/) [Browse all 37,796 Faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“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 as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and belief, as we can. We patch and tinker more than we renew. The novelty soaks in; it stains the ancient mass; but it is also tinged by what absorbs it. Our past apperceives and co-operates; and in the new equilibrium in which each step forward in the process of learning terminates, it happens relatively seldom that the new fact is added raw. More usually it is embedded cooked, as one might say, or stewed down in the sauce of the old. New truths thus are resultants of new experiences and of old truths combined and mutually modifying one another. And since this is the case in the changes opinion of to-day, there is no reason to assume that it has not been so at all times. It follows that very ancient modes of thought may have survived through all the later changes in men's opinions. The most primitive ways of thinking may not yet be wholly expunged. Like our five fingers, our ear-bones, our rudimentary caudal appendage, or our other 'vestigial' peculiarities, they may remain as indelible tokens of events in our race-history. Our ancestors may at certain moments have struck into ways of thinking which they might conceivably not have found. But once they did so, and after the fact, the inheritance continues. When you begin a piece of music in a certain key, you must keep the key to the end. You may alter your house ad libitum, but the ground-plan of the first architect persists - you can make great changes, but you cannot change a Gothic church into a Doric temple. You may rinse and rinse the bottle, but you can't get the taste of the medicine or whiskey that first filled it wholly out. My thesis now is this, that our fundamental ways of thinking about things are discoveries of exceedingly remote ancestors, which have been able to preserve themselves throughout the experience of all subsequent time. They form one great stage of equilibrium in the human mind's development, the stage of common sense. Other stages have grafted themselves upon this stage, but have never succeeded in displacing it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Faith" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/597/william-james-228_faith_our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-gr_17019.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as…” — 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": "“Our minds thus grow in spots;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/#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 } } ] } ```