Quotation
Last reviewed:
“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
William James · Pragmatism · Modern · 1890
What does it mean?
Wisdom, in this line from the psychology, is the art of knowing what to overlook. A mind that refuses to drop anything cannot think, because attention is a selecting activity, not a storehouse. A rival reading hears a licence for denial: overlook the inconvenient fact and call the overlooking intelligence. James is talking about selection inside a discussion of attention, not about moral permission to ignore people. The sentence does not tell you which omissions are the art and which are the vice. That sorting is still yours.
Did William James really say this?
The library’s label is Well attested. James's English in The Principles of Psychology. It is secure, though people often detach it from a discussion of attention and selection rather than of moral wisdom in general.
Where it comes from
The Principles of Psychology, volume 2
Approximate date: 1890.
How to use it
Name one input you will deliberately overlook on a Tuesday commute into London, because it eats the journey and changes no decision you actually have. James thinks that choice can be intelligent. He does not think every ignored email is a sign of wisdom, including the one from your landlord.
A mindset reading
Overlooking can be the skill or it can be denial. The sentence is not a sorting machine. Detaching it from the chapter on attention and hanging it over 'moral wisdom' in general is how a technical remark became a proverb.
Understand the philosophy
The Principles of Psychology treats consciousness as a selecting agency. The line belongs to that theory. It later feeds the pragmatism: meaning is tied to what makes a difference, not to everything that could be said about a scene.
- knowledge
- mind
- self
FAQ
What does it mean?
Wisdom, in this line from the psychology, is the art of knowing what to overlook. A mind that refuses to drop anything cannot think, because attention is a selecting activity, not a storehouse. A rival reading hears a licence for denial: overlook the inconvenient fact and call the overlooking intelligence. James is talking about selection inside a discussion of attention, not about moral permission to ignore people. The sentence does not tell you which omissions are the art and which are the vice. That sorting is still yours.
Did William James really say this?
Well attested. James's English in The Principles of Psychology. It is secure, though people often detach it from a discussion of attention and selection rather than of moral wisdom in general.
Which work is it in?
The Principles of Psychology, volume 2 Approximate date: 1890.