William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher

To preach skepticism to us as a duty until 'sufficient evidence' for religion be found, is tantamount therefore to telling us, when in presence of the religious hypothesis, that to yield to our fear of its being error is wiser and better than to yield to our hope that it may be true. It is not intellect against all passions, then; it is only intellect with one passion laying down its law.

The Will to Believe (1857)

Post a comment

We welcome your help in making WIST even better. If you have a correction, addition, (alternate) source/citation for a quotation, etc., please post it below. (Please, however, don't use this as a forum for discussing your thoughts about the quotation itself.)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.hill-kleerup.org/blog/mt4/080510t.cgi/15610

About WIST

WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to

More about WIST


Quotes by Author

Browse through authors:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Others    Sig Lines

All Authors (search authors)

WIST Front Page


WIST Info

WIST Front Page

Administrivia
WIST History
Looking for quotes
Looking for citations

The WIST Store

My Blog
My Blog (about WIST)



Amazon Honor System Click Here to Pay Learn More

Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Powered by
Movable Type 4.01