One hears of the mechanical equivalent of heat. What we now need to discover in the social realm is the moral equivalent of war: something heroic that will speak to men as universally as war does, and yet will be as compatible with their spiritual selves as war has proved itself to be incompatible.
William JamesThere can be no final truth in ethics any more than in physics, until the last man has had his experience and said his say.
William JamesFar from being antecedent principles that animate the process, law, language, truth are but abstract names for its results.
William JamesGreat indeed is Fear; but it is not, as our military enthusiasts believe and try to make us believe, the only stimulus known for awakening the higher ranges of men's spiritual energy.
William James