"In the end we fall back on the hackneyed symbolism of a mechanical equilibrium. A mind is a system of ideas, each with the excitement it arouses, and with tendencies impulsive and inhibitive, which mutually check or reinforce one another."
— James, William (1842-1910)
Author
Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
Longman, Green, and Co
Date
1901-2, 1902
Metaphor
"In the end we fall back on the hackneyed symbolism of a mechanical equilibrium. A mind is a system of ideas, each with the excitement it arouses, and with tendencies impulsive and inhibitive, which mutually check or reinforce one another."
Metaphor in Context
In the end we fall back on the hackneyed symbolism of a mechanical equilibrium. A mind is a system of ideas, each with the excitement it arouses, and with tendencies impulsive and inhibitive, which mutually check or reinforce one another. The collection of ideas alters by subtraction or by addition in the course of experience, and the tendencies alter as the organism gets more aged. A mental system may be undermined or weakened by this interstitial alteration just as a building is, and yet for a time keep upright by dead habit. But a new perception a sudden emotional shock or an occasion which lays bare the organic alteration, will make the whole fabric fall together; and then the centre of gravity sinks into an attitude more stable, for the new ideas that reach the centre in the rearrangement seem now to be locked there and the new structure remains permanent.
(p. 197)
(p. 197)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Google Books
Citation
Text from William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, 11th Impression (New York and Bombay: Longman, Green, and Co., 1905). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
01/03/2012
