"The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a..." - Quote by William James
The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will... An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence.
More by William James
“Tell him to live by yes and no - yes to everything good, no to everything bad.”
“We, the lineal representatives of the successful enactors of one scene of slaughter after another, must, whatever more pacific virtues we may also possess, still carry about with us, ready at any moment to burst into flame, the smoldering and sinister traits of character by means of which they lived through so many massacres, harming others, but themselves unharmed.”
“There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood bu those who hear it.”
More on Attention
“The perfect woman perpetrates literature as she perpetrates a small sin: as an experiment, in passing, glancing around to see whether anybody notices--and to make sure that somebody notices.”
“Attention is the key to transformation- and full attention also implies acceptance.”
“You cannot give your full attention to something, and at the same time resist it.”