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James Williams 1) When we read William James’ views on healthy-mindedness, we are in reality reading about the “father” of the New Thought Movement that exists today. We hear some positive and equally negative opinions about it. However, if are to make a personal judgment about the philosophy of healthy mindedness, then we have to look further than to William James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience which defines healthy-mindedness and also gives his viewpoints on it and from which we can make our own. To understand James, a general definition of healthy-mindedness is needed. From the readings, it seems that people who practice healthy minded religion are optimists who focus on the positive in life and de-emphasize the negative. One might even say their motto would be similar to a famous Chinese proverb, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” James gives the name of "healthy-mindedness to the tendency which looks on all