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Be Not Afraid of Life: In the Words of William James
A compelling collection of the life-changing writings of William James
William James—psychologist, philosopher, and spiritual seeker—is one of those rare writers who can speak directly and powerfully to anyone about life’s meaning and worth, and whose ideas change not only how people think but how they live. The thinker who helped found the philosophy of pragmatism and inspire Alcoholics Anonymous, James famously asked, “is life worth living?” Bringing together many of his best and most popular essays, talks, and other writings, this anthology presents James’s answer to that and other existential questions, in his own unique manner—caring, humorous, eloquent, incisive, humble, and forever on the trail of the “ever not quite.”
Here we meet a James perfectly attuned to the concerns of today—one who argues for human freedom, articulates a healthy-minded psychology, urges us to explore the stream of consciousness, presents a new definition of truth based on its practical consequences, and never forecloses the possibility of mystical transcendence. Introduced by John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle, these compelling and accessible selections reveal why James is one of the great guides to the business of living.
William James—psychologist, philosopher, and spiritual seeker—is one of those rare writers who can speak directly and powerfully to anyone about life’s meaning and worth, and whose ideas change not only how people think but how they live. The thinker who helped found the philosophy of pragmatism and inspire Alcoholics Anonymous, James famously asked, “is life worth living?” Bringing together many of his best and most popular essays, talks, and other writings, this anthology presents James’s answer to that and other existential questions, in his own unique manner—caring, humorous, eloquent, incisive, humble, and forever on the trail of the “ever not quite.”
Here we meet a James perfectly attuned to the concerns of today—one who argues for human freedom, articulates a healthy-minded psychology, urges us to explore the stream of consciousness, presents a new definition of truth based on its practical consequences, and never forecloses the possibility of mystical transcendence. Introduced by John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle, these compelling and accessible selections reveal why James is one of the great guides to the business of living.
393 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 10, 2023
96 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
William James
344 books1,352 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, James was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced, while others have labelled him the "Father of American psychology". Along with Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey, he is considered to be one of the greatest figures associated with the philosophical school known as pragmatism, and is also cited as one of the founders of the functional psychology. He also developed the philosophical perspective known as radical empiricism. James' work has influenced intellectuals such as Émile Durkheim, W. E. B. Du Bois, Edmund Husserl, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, and Richard Rorty.
Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr and the brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James, and the diarist Alice James. James wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology, education, metaphysics, psychology, religion, and mysticism. Among his most influential books are Principles of Psychology, which was a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology, Essays in Radical Empiricism, an important text in philosophy, and The Varieties of Religious Experience, which investigated different forms of religious experience.
William James was born at the Astor House in New York City. He was the son of Henry James Sr., a noted and independently wealthy Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.
James interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson, his godson William James Sidis, as well as Charles Sanders Peirce, Bertrand Russell, Josiah Royce, Ernst Mach, John Dewey, Macedonio Fernández, Walter Lippmann, Mark Twain, Horatio Alger, Jr., Henri Bergson and Sigmund Freud.
William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged cosmopolitanism. The family made two trips to Europe while William James was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. His early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island, but he switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University.
In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also tone deaf. He was subject to a variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as neurasthenia, and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson (Wilky) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the Civil War. The other three siblings (William, Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of invalidism.
He took up medical studies at Harvard Medical School in 1864. He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition up the Amazon River, but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe seasickness and mild smallpox. His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, James was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced, while others have labelled him the "Father of American psychology". Along with Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey, he is considered to be one of the greatest figures associated with the philosophical school known as pragmatism, and is also cited as one of the founders of the functional psychology. He also developed the philosophical perspective known as radical empiricism. James' work has influenced intellectuals such as Émile Durkheim, W. E. B. Du Bois, Edmund Husserl, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, and Richard Rorty.
Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr and the brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James, and the diarist Alice James. James wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology, education, metaphysics, psychology, religion, and mysticism. Among his most influential books are Principles of Psychology, which was a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology, Essays in Radical Empiricism, an important text in philosophy, and The Varieties of Religious Experience, which investigated different forms of religious experience.
William James was born at the Astor House in New York City. He was the son of Henry James Sr., a noted and independently wealthy Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.
James interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson, his godson William James Sidis, as well as Charles Sanders Peirce, Bertrand Russell, Josiah Royce, Ernst Mach, John Dewey, Macedonio Fernández, Walter Lippmann, Mark Twain, Horatio Alger, Jr., Henri Bergson and Sigmund Freud.
William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged cosmopolitanism. The family made two trips to Europe while William James was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. His early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island, but he switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University.
In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also tone deaf. He was subject to a variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as neurasthenia, and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson (Wilky) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the Civil War. The other three siblings (William, Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of invalidism.
He took up medical studies at Harvard Medical School in 1864. He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition up the Amazon River, but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe seasickness and mild smallpox. His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 10, 2025
Greatness among greats.
May 10, 2023
I read this book because I listened to John Kaag on a podcast and was really impressed. I love his take on James's answer to "Is life worth living?" He and Jonathan van Belle prefaced each part of this book with commentary which placed the writing in its historical and academic context, which was really helpful. I enjoyed the first essays, but as I continued with James's writing, I found it more and more difficult to read. The prose is academic and Victorian and kind of pedantic, and I lost patience, despite the ideas (at least the ones I could discern) being interesting and many completely relevant to the current era. The inherent elitism and misogyny got to me. I skimmed toward the end.
December 4, 2023
James brings to the philosophical table a radical empiricism combined with a willingness to change his beliefs as new evidence comes in; the definition of cultivating an open mind;
"But please observe, now, that when as empiricists we give up the doctrine of objective certitude, we do not thereby give up the quest or hope of truth itself. We still pin our faith on its existence, and still believe that we gain an ever better position towards it by systematically continuing to roll up experiences and think. Our great difference from the scholastic lies in the way we face. The strength of his system lies in the principles, the origin, the terminus a quo of his thought; for us the strength is in the outcome, the upshot, the terminus ad quem. Not where it comes from but what it leads to is to decide. It matters not to an empiricist from what quarter an hypothesis may come to him: he may have acquired it by fair means or by foul; passion may have whispered or accident suggested it; but if the total drift of thinking continues to confirm it, that is what he means by its being true.…"
"These, then, are my last words to you: Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact."
"A significant moment in our moral life is the realization that others find meaning and beauty each in their own way, and that it is impossible for us to understand fully the richness and depth of someone else’s choices and preferences. This stands as a type of epistemic humility (meaning that we admit that our angle of vision is limited) and is the cornerstone of James’s moral pluralism."
"There is absolutely nothing new in the pragmatic method. Socrates was an adept at it. Aristotle used it methodically. Locke, Berkeley and Hume made momentous contributions to truth by its means. Shadworth Hodgson keeps insisting that realities are only what they are “known-as.” But these forerunners of pragmatism used it in fragments: they were preluders only. Not until in our time has it generalized itself, become conscious of a universal mission, pretended to a conquering destiny. I believe in that destiny, and I hope I may end by inspiring you with my belief."
"But please observe, now, that when as empiricists we give up the doctrine of objective certitude, we do not thereby give up the quest or hope of truth itself. We still pin our faith on its existence, and still believe that we gain an ever better position towards it by systematically continuing to roll up experiences and think. Our great difference from the scholastic lies in the way we face. The strength of his system lies in the principles, the origin, the terminus a quo of his thought; for us the strength is in the outcome, the upshot, the terminus ad quem. Not where it comes from but what it leads to is to decide. It matters not to an empiricist from what quarter an hypothesis may come to him: he may have acquired it by fair means or by foul; passion may have whispered or accident suggested it; but if the total drift of thinking continues to confirm it, that is what he means by its being true.…"
"These, then, are my last words to you: Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact."
"A significant moment in our moral life is the realization that others find meaning and beauty each in their own way, and that it is impossible for us to understand fully the richness and depth of someone else’s choices and preferences. This stands as a type of epistemic humility (meaning that we admit that our angle of vision is limited) and is the cornerstone of James’s moral pluralism."
"There is absolutely nothing new in the pragmatic method. Socrates was an adept at it. Aristotle used it methodically. Locke, Berkeley and Hume made momentous contributions to truth by its means. Shadworth Hodgson keeps insisting that realities are only what they are “known-as.” But these forerunners of pragmatism used it in fragments: they were preluders only. Not until in our time has it generalized itself, become conscious of a universal mission, pretended to a conquering destiny. I believe in that destiny, and I hope I may end by inspiring you with my belief."
October 4, 2024
A good introduction to William James, but not the Best
This nicely-bound collection of William James is a nice introduction to his ideas, but those new to James would be better served by The Heart of William James by his foremost modern biographer, Robert Richardson. It's not that Richardson's selections are so much better; there is a lot of overlap between the books, and each book contains worthwhile reads that the other does not. So, maybe both are worth having. But the thing is that John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle have rather heavily edited some of their selections, and if you're not paying close attention to the ellipses indicating these excisions, you might think you're reading an intact essay. Specifically, the editors have omitted many passages from one of my favorite essays of James, What Makes A Life Significant, in particular a very stirring passage in its opening. I can see why the opener was omitted; it would seem to belong within this essay's companion, On A Certain Blindness In Human Beings, but that's just it: those two essays are a pair, as Richardson explains in his collection but Kaag and van Belle do not. To me, the omitted opener of my favorite essay is the connective tissue between its companion piece. Also, Kaag and van Belle do not place the two sequentially as Richardson does.
I am not versed enough in the other selections in this book to criticize any other editing decisions of Kaag and van Belle, but these omissions—and I don't think the editors telegraph this in their Introduction—gave me the impression that this book is William James with Training Wheels. It's fine that the editors are reaching for a mass audience, but those like me who prefer something more complete would be better served by Richardson.
This nicely-bound collection of William James is a nice introduction to his ideas, but those new to James would be better served by The Heart of William James by his foremost modern biographer, Robert Richardson. It's not that Richardson's selections are so much better; there is a lot of overlap between the books, and each book contains worthwhile reads that the other does not. So, maybe both are worth having. But the thing is that John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle have rather heavily edited some of their selections, and if you're not paying close attention to the ellipses indicating these excisions, you might think you're reading an intact essay. Specifically, the editors have omitted many passages from one of my favorite essays of James, What Makes A Life Significant, in particular a very stirring passage in its opening. I can see why the opener was omitted; it would seem to belong within this essay's companion, On A Certain Blindness In Human Beings, but that's just it: those two essays are a pair, as Richardson explains in his collection but Kaag and van Belle do not. To me, the omitted opener of my favorite essay is the connective tissue between its companion piece. Also, Kaag and van Belle do not place the two sequentially as Richardson does.
I am not versed enough in the other selections in this book to criticize any other editing decisions of Kaag and van Belle, but these omissions—and I don't think the editors telegraph this in their Introduction—gave me the impression that this book is William James with Training Wheels. It's fine that the editors are reaching for a mass audience, but those like me who prefer something more complete would be better served by Richardson.
November 22, 2025
This book was a real treat. It has been published in an attractive form, feels good in the hand, nice font, etc., that in the first place. But then, James' writing is so accessible. With a language full of metaphor, he talks to you as if you're sitting opposite him, his tone is so natural. And the book covers many different, and interesting, topics. He gave me many valuable insights, indeed lessons for life.
The book starts with the young James writing a letter to his friend, and ends with the old James writing a mainly enthusiastic and partly ironic review about a work of an author he considers to be an emotional relative. You can see how genuinely driven and inspired William James was. The fifteen essays or excerpts from book chapters are generally about issues of coping with existence, and the related need for self-development.
With this book, the editors shaped an intense picture of the man; thanks editors, for compiling it!
The book starts with the young James writing a letter to his friend, and ends with the old James writing a mainly enthusiastic and partly ironic review about a work of an author he considers to be an emotional relative. You can see how genuinely driven and inspired William James was. The fifteen essays or excerpts from book chapters are generally about issues of coping with existence, and the related need for self-development.
With this book, the editors shaped an intense picture of the man; thanks editors, for compiling it!
August 20, 2024
Not a waste of Time
Although I didn’t agree with all Perceptions, and Ideas I was not disappointed in spending My Time Reading and trying to Comprehend such a Caring and Considerate Character in William James…..I can only Imagine what He was like in Lecture….Entertaining?
Although I didn’t agree with all Perceptions, and Ideas I was not disappointed in spending My Time Reading and trying to Comprehend such a Caring and Considerate Character in William James…..I can only Imagine what He was like in Lecture….Entertaining?
October 13, 2024
As a William James reader, the editors have collected excellent samples of his works to function as an introduction or portrait of a great mind and brilliant communicator. I found the 15 selections created the man and his mind well, and I wish more people would read this essential author and American philosopher.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews