--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [There are, in us] possibilities that…" description: "\"“[There are, in us] possibilities that take our breath away, and show a world wider than either physics or philistine ethics can imagine. Here is a wor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png" --- # \[There are, in us\] possibilities that take our breath… ![“[There are, in us] possibilities that take our breath away, and show a world wider than either physics or philistine ethics can imagine. Here is a world in which all is well, in spite of certain forms of death, death of hope, death of strength, death of responsibility, of fear and wrong, death of…” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png) > ““\[There are, in us\] possibilities that take our breath away, and show a world wider than either physics or philistine ethics can imagine. Here is a world in which all is well, in spite of certain forms of death, death of hope, death of strength, death of responsibility, of fear and wrong, death of everything that paganism, naturalism and legalism pin their trust on.”” [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 imagination can envision possibilities beyond rational limits, offering hope despite inevitable losses. **In simple terms:** Imagination offers hope beyond rational constraints. Key Takeaway Cultivate imaginative hope. Themes hope imagination philosophy Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - grief coping - creative writing - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism metaphysics Questions to Reflect On - What impossible possibility inspires you? - How do you balance hope with realism? A Different Perspective Imagination may detach from practical reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breaths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaths/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Hope death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-death/) [Legalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legalism/) [Naturalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturalism/) [Paganism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paganism/) [Philistines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philistines/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibilities/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Who would endure life if it were not for the hope of death?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-would-endure-life-if-it-were-not-for-the-hope-of-death/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I hope death isn’t nearly as dark as life!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shae-ford/i-hope-death-isn-t-nearly-as-dark-as-life/) [Shae Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shae-ford/) > [People have hope because they cannot see Death standing behind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tite-kubo/people-have-hope-because-they-cannot-see-death-standing-behind-them/) [Tite Kubo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tite-kubo/) > [Now: For those of you who are lazy I can offer no hope: death will not bring you an eternal resting place. You may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/now-for-those-of-you-who-are-lazy-i-can-offer-no-hope-death-will-not/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [“There was no hope in death, only an end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-rhodes/there-was-no-hope-in-death-only-an-end/) [Morgan Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-rhodes/) > [I hope that death contains less than this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-hope-that-death-contains-less-than-this/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tecumseh/sing-your-death-song-and-die-like-a-hero-going-home/) [Tecumseh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tecumseh/) > [The light has gone out of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-light-has-gone-out-of-my-life/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“By seizing every opportunity for kindness, forgiveness, healing, and love that crosses my path each day, I hope that my death, although perhaps sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-j-shultz/by-seizing-every-opportunity-for-kindness-forgiveness-healing-and/) [Lisa J. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-j-shultz/) > [So here I am with this, my final thought The very last thing to hope for would be death But if expiration isn't in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kourtnee-amos/so-here-i-am-with-this-my-final-thought-the-very-last-thing-to-hope/) Kourtnee Amos > [“Where there is life, George, there is hope. Death is so terribly final. It will come soon enough to us all. I would hesitate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/where-there-is-life-george-there-is-hope-death-is-so-terribly-final/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Man would indeeded be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/man-would-indeeded-be-in-a-poor-way-if-he-had-to-be-restrained-by/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Dreams are more powerful than facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/dreams-are-more-powerful-than-facts/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [I have good hope that there is something after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-have-good-hope-that-there-is-something-after-death/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/no-one-wants-to-die-even-people-who-want-to-go-to-heaven-don-t-want-4/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) ## 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 Breaths quotes > [Don't let a breath escape from your body without Krishna's name. That should be our determination throughout our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/don-t-let-a-breath-escape-from-your-body-without-krishna-s-name-that/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Many years ago I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realised, 'I am killing him - all for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mccartney/many-years-ago-i-was-fishing-and-as-i-was-reeling-in-the-poor-fish-i/) [Paul McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mccartney/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [God is greater than anything that man can do or has done. He is not undone by just a train of powder. "Our God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/god-is-greater-than-anything-that-man-can-do-or-has-done-he-is-not/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [One day I was running around playing with my son Connor when afterwards I was sweating, tired and out of breath. I was embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/one-day-i-was-running-around-playing-with-my-son-connor-when/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [Dave Wann's recipes from his own experience in Simple Prosperity are a breath of fresh air, and just what we need for a saner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-henderson/dave-wann-s-recipes-from-his-own-experience-in-simple-prosperity-are/) [Hazel Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-henderson/) > [Poetry should be vital--either stirring our blood by its divine movements or snatching our breath by its divine perfection. To do both is supreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-birrell/poetry-should-be-vital-either-stirring-our-blood-by-its-divine/) [Augustine Birrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-birrell/) > [Tic Tacs are the maracas of breath mints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/tic-tacs-are-the-maracas-of-breath-mints/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [The river is motion, turmoil, rage. As the river flows, it wonders what it would be like to be so still, to take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kekla-magoon/the-river-is-motion-turmoil-rage-as-the-river-flows-it-wonders-what/) [Kekla Magoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kekla-magoon/) > [Remember that no matter how selfish, how cruel, how unfeeling you have been today, every time you take a breath, you make a flower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-sahl/remember-that-no-matter-how-selfish-how-cruel-how-unfeeling-you-have/) [Mort Sahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-sahl/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“Listen to this, Nimit. Follow Coleman Hawkins' improvised lines very carefully. He is using them to tell us something. Pay very close attention. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/listen-to-this-nimit-follow-coleman-hawkins-improvised-lines-very/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Every body resisted (the slaughterer) in its own fashion, tried to escape and seemed to argue with the Creator to its last breath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/every-body-resisted-the-slaughterer-in-its-own-fashion-tried-to/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [We had a dog, Apples. He was 13 years old, toothless, blind and had the worst breath this side of Jabba the Hut. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlee-matlin/we-had-a-dog-apples-he-was-13-years-old-toothless-blind-and-had-the/) [Marlee Matlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlee-matlin/) [Browse all 1,609 Breaths quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaths/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[There are, in us] possibilities that take our breath away, and show a world wider than either physics or philistine ethics can imagine. Here is a world in which all is well, in spite of certain forms of death, death of hope, death of strength, death of responsibility, of fear and wrong, death of everything that paganism, naturalism and legalism pin their trust on.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take-our-breath-away-and-show-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Breaths" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take-our-breath-away-and-show-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db5/william-james-228_breaths_there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take_2888048.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[There are, in us] possibilities that take our breath away, and show a world wider than either physics or…” — 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": "“[There are, in us] possibilities that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take-our-breath-away-and-show-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-are-in-us-possibilities-that-take-our-breath-away-and-show-a/#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 } } ] } ```