From a pragmatic point of view, the difference between living against a background of foreigness (an indifferent Universe) and one of intimacy (a benevolent Universe) means the difference between a general habit of wariness and one of trust. – William James
The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community. – William James
Truth, as any dictionary will tell you, is a property of certain of our ideas. It means their “agreement,” as falsity means their disagreement, with “reality.” – William James
To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal. – William James
Everything youve learned in school as obvious becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. Theres not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines. – Richard Buckminster Fuller