Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.
William James The Will to Believe, Is Life Worth Living? (1896)
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When and why it was written
- When
- The closing words of the lecture Is Life Worth Living?, published in The Will to Believe in 1896.
- Why
- James was speaking to young men troubled by doubt and despair.
What it means
James argues that some beliefs help make themselves true. Believing life worth living leads us to live in ways that make it so.
It is a psychologist's case for hope as something we do, not only something we feel.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
Read the source
The Will to Believe, 1896
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