--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The impulse to take life strivingly is…" description: "\"The impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race.\" — William James" 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 impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18d/william-james-228_fatalism_the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-i_2900509.png) [Open 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.” [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. He claims the drive to strive is unstoppable, especially in competitive contexts. **In simple terms:** Striving is an indestructible impulse. Key Takeaway Channel your drive. Themes motivation competition humannature Mood determined energetic Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career advancement - sports training - personal projects Key Concepts psychology philosophy selfimprovement Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance ambition and rest? - What fuels your perseverance? A Different Perspective May lead to burnout if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fatalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatalism/) [Free will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-will/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Impulse Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse-life-3361771/) [Indestructible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indestructible/) [Indestructible Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indestructible-race-4122564/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Strivingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-strivingly-4122566/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Strivingly Indestructible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strivingly-indestructible-4122565/) [Vagueness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagueness/) ## Related quotes > [Fatalism, whose solving word in all crises of behavior is All striving is vain, will never reign supreme, for the impulse to take life…](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/) > [“Often, as you step out of your demons, you step out of society and find yourself beyond good and evil. If you follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lanoff/often-as-you-step-out-of-your-demons-you-step-out-of-society-and-find/) [Lawrence Lanoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lanoff/) > [The urge to convert experience into a group of words that are in a grammatical relation to one another is the most basic, ongoing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/the-urge-to-convert-experience-into-a-group-of-words-that-are-in-a/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [When people talk, they lay lines on each other, do a lot of role playing, sidestep, shilly-shally and engage in all manner of vagueness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-people-talk-they-lay-lines-on-each-other-do-a-lot-of-role/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Conventions of generality and mathematical elegance may be just as much barriers to the attainment and diffusion of knowledge as may contentment with particularity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/conventions-of-generality-and-mathematical-elegance-may-be-just-as/) [Kenneth E. 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Roth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-winegardner/fredo-s-vagueness-was-born-of-ignorance-not-discretion-roth/) [Mark Winegardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-winegardner/) > [Science fiction rarely is about scientists doing real science, in its slowness, its vagueness, the sort of tedious quality of getting out there and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/science-fiction-rarely-is-about-scientists-doing-real-science-in-its/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [To write or even speak English is not a science but an art. There are no reliable words… Whoever writes English is involved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/to-write-or-even-speak-english-is-not-a-science-but-an-art-there-are/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Spiritual activity, education, civilization, culture, the idea are all vague, indefinite concepts, under the banner of which it is quite convenient to use words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/spiritual-activity-education-civilization-culture-the-idea-are-all/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## 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. 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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 Fatalism quotes > [I felt shame - I see this clearly, now - at the instinctive recognition in myself of an awful enfeebling fatalism, a sense that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-neill/i-felt-shame-i-see-this-clearly-now-at-the-instinctive-recognition-in/) [Joseph O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-neill/) > [ \[in the\]..curious way that my idealism has been mixed with my fatalism, so that I can possess the soul of a dreamer and that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/in-the-curious-way-that-my-idealism-has-been-mixed-with-my-fatalism/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“When people die and especially when they die tragically, others can't help but get carried away. They come up with their implausible interpretation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-marciano/when-people-die-and-especially-when-they-die-tragically-others-can-t/) [Francesca Marciano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-marciano/) > [Submission does not mean being weak or passive. It leads to neither fatalism nor capitulation. Just the opposite. True power resides in submission. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/submission-does-not-mean-being-weak-or-passive-it-leads-to-neither/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [“The villagers were speeding up the circling of events because she was too shortsighted to see that her infidelity had already harmed the village,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-hong-kingston/the-villagers-were-speeding-up-the-circling-of-events-because-she-was/) [Maxine Hong Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-hong-kingston/) > [Fatalism is a false premise. What will be is not necessarily what must be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/fatalism-is-a-false-premise-what-will-be-is-not-necessarily-what-must/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The challenge to Asia is to discard the dry, meatless bone of mysticism and fatalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-marcos/the-challenge-to-asia-is-to-discard-the-dry-meatless-bone-of/) [Ferdinand Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-marcos/) > [“From Orient Point The art of living isn't hard to muster: Enjoy the hour, not what it might portend. When someone makes you promises,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/from-orient-point-the-art-of-living-isn-t-hard-to-muster-enjoy-the/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [Fatalism is the lazy man's way of accepting the inevitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-clifford-barney/fatalism-is-the-lazy-man-s-way-of-accepting-the-inevitable/) [Natalie Clifford Barney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-clifford-barney/) > [I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandria-ocasio-cortez/i-just-hope-that-more-people-will-ignore-the-fatalism-of-the-argument/) [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandria-ocasio-cortez/) > [they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality. ... Can you imagine having the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/they-have-no-business-administering-government-policies-in-a-country/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [“The author says people are guilty of "wrecking the present because the future was bound to be a wreck.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-white/the-author-says-people-are-guilty-of-wrecking-the-present-because-the/) [T.H. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-white/) > [“Fatalism in history is inevitable for the explanation of senseless phenomena (that is, those whose sense we do not understand).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/fatalism-in-history-is-inevitable-for-the-explanation-of-senseless/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The past doesn't change no matter how much time you spend thinking about it. Good and bad all add up to the whole. Take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-hart/the-past-doesn-t-change-no-matter-how-much-time-you-spend-thinking/) [Megan Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-hart/) > [God is a fantasy and fatalism, which we depend on other life forms different from truth and reality are](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-is-a-fantasy-and-fatalism-which-we-depend-on-other-life-forms/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 83 Fatalism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatalism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-indestructible-in-the-race/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fatalism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-indestructible-in-the-race/#quotation", "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": "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": "The impulse to take life strivingly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-indestructible-in-the-race/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-impulse-to-take-life-strivingly-is-indestructible-in-the-race/#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 } } ] } ```