In its broadest term, religion says that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in rightful relations to it.
William JamesI myself believe that the evidence for God lies primarily in inner personal experiences.
William JamesObjective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?
William JamesThat reality is 'independent' means that there is something in every experience that escapes our arbitrary control. If it be a sensible experience it coerces our attention; if a sequence, we cannot invert it; if we compare two terms we can come to only one result. There is a push, an urgency, within our very experience, against which we are on the whole powerless, and which drives us in a direction that is the destiny of our belief.
William James