The greatest discovery of the 19th century was not in the realm of the physical sciences, but the power of the subconscious mind touched by faith. Any individual can tap into an eternal reservoir of power that will enable them to overcome any problem that may arise. All weaknesses can be overcome, bodily healing, financial independence, spiritual awakening, and prosperity beyond your wildest dreams. This is the superstructure of happiness.
Interpretation
The true power lies in the subconscious mind and faith, enabling personal transformation and overcoming challenges.
William James highlights that the most significant discovery of the 19th century goes beyond physical sciences; it is the understanding of the subconscious mind's power, particularly when intertwined with faith. This notion suggests that every individual possesses the ability to access a vast source of internal strength that allows them to conquer various life challenges, ranging from personal health to financial success, ultimately leading to profound happiness.
In practice
During a motivational speech at a personal development seminar.
Many persons nowadays seem to think that any conclusion must be very scientific if the arguments in favor of it are derived from twitching of frogs' legs (especially if the frogs are decapitated) and that, on the other hand, any doctrine chiefly vouched for by the feelings of human beings (with heads on their shoulders) must be benighted and superstitious.
The man who knows governments most completely is he who troubles himself least about a definition which shall give their essence. Enjoying an intimate acquaintance with all their particularities in turn, he would naturally regard an abstract conception in which these were unified as a thing more misleading than enlightening.
All the higher, more penetrating ideals are revolutionary. They present themselves far less in the guise of effects of past experience than in that of probable causes of future experience, factors to which the environment and the lessons it has so far taught us must learn to bend.
The lunatic's visions of horror are all drawn from the material of daily fact. Our civilization is founded on the shambles, and every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.
It is astonishing how many mental operations we can explain when we have once grasped the principles of association
As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.
I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly find - at the age of fifty, say - that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about...It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.
Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
My love of dynamic complications often led me to avoid simplicity when perhaps it was the wisest choice.
Cheap booze is a false economy.
In the measurement world, we set a goal and strive to achieve it. In the universe of possibility, we set the context and let life unfold.
The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.
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