William James Quotes

Mountains, according to the angle of view, the season, the time of day, the beholder's frame of mind, or any one thing, can effectively change their appearance. Thus, it is essential to recognize that we can never know more than one side, one small aspect of a mountain.

Our earth is round, and, among other things, that means that you and I can hold completely different points of view and both be right. The difference of our positions will show stars in your window I cannot even imagine. Your sky may burn with light, while mine, at the same moment, spreads beautiful to darkness. Still we must choose how we separately corner the circling universe of our experience. Once chosen, our cornering will determine the message of any star and darkness we encounter.

A course never quite looks the same way twice. The combinations of weather, season, light, feelings and thoughts that you find there are ever-changing.

Reality is observer-determined - it's a spatio-temporal process, which fortunately means that things must change.

Every question is a hypothetical question for everyone but the person who asks it.

What is the truth? Is it what you experience? Is it what I experience? Or is there some objective truth in between?

Reality is a concept that depends largely upon where you point your face.

Facts do not constitute truth.

Conceptuality is subjective; realization is objective.

Things may look different to you than they did before. I've had that experience myself. But don't let appearances fool you. There's only one reality.

All progression is in the relative world.

Every viewpoint is a view from a point.

What is nonsense, and what is not, then, may be merely a matter of perspective.

There is no 'the truth,' 'a truth'--truth is not one thing, or even a system. It is an increasing complexity.

Perception is a prism, and reality is like shot silk - depends where the light hits.

I don't think anyone sees truth for a simple reason: we aren't static.

Ugliness is a point of view; an ulcer is wonderful to a pathologist.

What kind of truth is this which is true on one side of a mountain and false on the other?

When you're in a place, the details you focus on are different than details you focus on when you're writing about it.

There are no great people. There are only great topics.

There are many levels of truth.

Truth makes on the ocean of nature no one track of light; every eye, looking on, finds its own.

I love that perhaps we don't see the things that are there because we have no yardstick to see things by, to compare them.

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

History never looks like history when you are living through it.