William James

"The mind, in short, works on the data it receives very much as the sculptor works on his block of stone."

"The inner nature of every being is divine."

"Strength of character may be acquired at work."

"The beautiful comes only when we forget the limitations of our own point of view."

"The most important discovery of my life is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude."

"Pessimism is essentially a religious disease."

"We are truly our brother's keepers."

"When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice."

"The hell to be endured hereafter is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by our follies and sins."

"The will to believe is a vital human need."

"There is no such thing as an abstract truth; truth is always relative to some interest."

"The perception of the strong character comes from the fact that the will-power is great."

"The work of the world gets done chiefly by men who want to do it."

"Our normal waking consciousness is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different."

"The most sacred duty of any leader is to listen deeply."

"The word is the sign of knowledge."

"Human beings are perhaps never more beguiled than by someone who genuinely enjoys being around them."

"The existence of possibilities beyond our vision is what implies hope."

"The truth is what works."

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."

"When you have to make a choice and you don't make it, that itself is a choice that will determine your future."

"The question of whether free will is compatible with determinism is perhaps the most difficult problem philosophy has to face."

"Let no youth think his own mind too good to grow."

"War is a school of strenuous life and heroism."

"The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which have decayed and crumbled."

"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing."

"The true function of a beginning is to begin."

"Live to the point of tears."