Jack’s Winning Words 11/26/07
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” (William James) His generation was 1847-1910, but his view seems to hold true today. I’ve tried it, and it works for me. Three p’s describe him: psychologist, philosopher and pragmatist. W.J.’s life was truly an interesting one and worth reading about. ;-) Jack

FROM J.L. IN MICHIGAN: It's truly hard to believe it took humankind to figure out that statement....it would seem that is a n-brainer....However, it doesn't mean all people "get it". You can change your whole life by an attitude change. Let's put on a new attitude today!

FROM GOOD DEBT JON IN OHIO: It is interesting how many of William James theories seem to be straight from the Bible. Some oddly from the book of James. What is expectancy theory except, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7]” In modern psychology (the young science), it seems the Bible is taken for granted and not given attribution most of the time. I used to annoy my professors at Ohio State (94-95 Grad Adult Ed classes) when I could come up with many parallels for Will James’ work to Solomon and other Biblical writers that were not given attribution. I believe Poor Richard aka Ben Franklin covered a lot of this road too, nearly 100 years before, but Franklin does credit Cotton Mather (his Pastor) and the Bible. I will admit, I have not read all of W.J.’s work, perhaps he does give attribution. We as mortals, love to recast God’s revelations as our own. I suppose a healthier response would be , “The Lord is the beginning of all Knowledge” (Solomon, 961 B.C.).

FROM MOLINER, C.F.: That's exactly what some, most, politicians are trying to do to us now.

FROM B.S. NEAR ORLANDO: This gent sounds like a real winner. A contributor to society. Thanks Jack, we can hike over to the librbary.