The Varieties of Religious Experience
"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James is a seminal work that explores the nature of religious experiences from a psychological perspective. Through a series of lectures, James examines the personal, subjective aspects of religion, emphasizing the diversity of belief systems and the importance of individual experience. He argues that these experiences, while varied, reveal fundamental truths about human existence and the search for meaning.
29 curated highlights from this book
Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most impactful passages and quotes from The Varieties of Religious Experience, carefully selected to capture the essence of the book.
The most important thing about religion is that it is a matter of experience.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
The faith that stands on authority is not faith.
Our passional nature not only lawfully may, but must, decide an option between propositions, whenever it is genuinely impossible for our intellect to find any more reason for choosing one over the other.
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
Religion is what an individual does with his own solitariness.
The trail of the human serpent is over everything.
The will to believe is a key element in the development of faith.
There is no such thing as an unqualified truth.
The most common and perhaps the most important feature of religious experience is the sense of the divine.
There is no more important factor in the development of the human mind than the influence of religion.
The believer is happy; the doubter is wise.
Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness.
The feelings of the individual are the only things that make up the world.
Religion, as a phenomenon of human life, is a fact, and a mighty fact.
A man’s worth is determined by what he gives and not by what he is capable of receiving.
The varieties of religious experience are as varied as the human experience itself.
The mystical experience is often a deep and abiding sense of union.
Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible.
Religion is what the individual does with his own solitariness.
Our faith in the future rests on our faith in the present.
The stream of consciousness is a continuous flow.
Mystical states can be more easily understood than explained.
The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of society.
Belief creates the actual fact.
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
To be is to be related.