A genius is the man in whom you are least likely to find the power of attending to anything insipid or distasteful in itself. He breaks his engagements, leaves his letters unanswered, neglects his family duties incorrigibly, because he is powerless to turn his attention down and back from those more interesting trains of imagery with which his genius constantly occupies his mind.
William JamesIf you give appreciation to people, you win their goodwill. But more important than that, practicing this philosophy has made a different person of me.
William JamesSeek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive.
William JamesFor I had often said that the best argument I knew for an immortal life was the existence of a man who deserved one as well as Child did.
William JamesFeed the growing human being, feed him with the sort of experience for which from year to year he shows a natural craving, and he will develop in adult life a sounder sort of mental tissue, even though he may seem to be 'wasting' a great deal of his growing time, in the eyes of those for whom the only channels of learning are books and verbally communicated information.
William James