"The good or bad is not in..." - Quote by William James
The good or bad is not in the circumstance, but only in the mind...that encounters it.
More by William James
“Our errors are surely not such awfully solemn things. In a world where we are so certain to incur them in spite of all our caution, a certain lightness of heart seems healthier than this excessive nervousness on their behalf.”
“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”
“Democracy is still upon its trial. The civic genius of our people is its only bulwark.”
More on Mind
“To realize that you are not your thoughts is when you begin to awaken spiritually.”
“No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.”
“The mind, conditioned as it is by the past, always seeks to re-create what it knows and is familiar with. Even if it is painful, at least it is familiar. The mind always adheres to the known. The unknown is dangerous because it has no control over it. That's why the mind dislikes and ignores the present moment.”
More on Perception
“If you recognize anyone it does not mean you like them.”
“The mind, in short, works on the data it receives very much as a sculptor works on his block of stone. In a sense the statue stoodthere from eternity. But there were a thousand different ones beside it, and the sculptor alone is to thank for having extricated this one from the rest.”
“I myself have been particularly careful never to say a civil word to the United States. I have scoffed at their inhabitants as a nation of villagers. I have defined the 100 % American as 99 % an idiot. And they adore me.”