As a rule reading fiction is as hard to me as trying to hit a target by hurling feathers at it. I need resistance to celebrate! – William James
There must be something solemn, serious, and tender about any attitude which we denominate religious. If glad, it must not grin or snicker if sad, it must not scream or curse. – William James
The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community. – William James
Whatever universe a professor believes in must at any rate be a universe that lends itself to lengthy discourse. A universe definable in two sentences is something for which the professorial intellect has no use. No faith in anything of that cheap kind! – William James
The alluring influences of bibliophilism, or book-loving, have silently crept into thousands of homes, whether beautiful or humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most important features of home as well as mental equipment. – Henry H. Harper, Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs, 1904