We can act as if there were a God; feel as if we were free; consider Nature as if she were full of special designs; lay plans as if we were to be immortal; and we find then that these words do make a genuine difference in our moral life.

William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher

The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture 3 “The Reality of the Unseen” (1902)
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