The Great Use of a Life Is to Spend It for Something That Outlasts It

William James? Ralph Barton Perry? Henry James? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: I have been working to confirm the source and accuracy of a quotation that is attributed to the famous philosopher and educator William James. Here are three versions:

1. The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
2. The best use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
3. The great use of a life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.

A version of this saying was listed in the Wikipedia entry for James, but more recently it has been removed. Perhaps you can verify this quote and determine the correct version.

Quote Investigator: The earliest published evidence known to QI appeared in the second volume of a massive compendium titled “The Thought and Character of William James: As Revealed in Unpublished Correspondence and Notes, Together with His Published Writings” which was released in 1935. The quotation from James is followed by a comment from the editor Ralph Barton Perry. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[1]1935, “The Thought and Character of William James: As revealed in unpublished correspondence and notes, together with his published writings”, Edited by Ralph Barton Perry, Volume II: … Continue reading

“The great use of a life,” James said in 1900, “is to spend it for something that outlasts it.” This outlasting cause was then, as in earlier days, the happiness of mankind.

The 1935 edition of this work did not specify the provenance of the quotation, but a 1948 edition contained a footnote indicating that James’s statement originally appeared in a letter he wrote to W. Lutoslawski on November 13, 1900.^[2]1965 (1948 Copyright), The Thought and Character of William James: Briefer Version, by Ralph Barton Perry, Chapter 26: Social and Political Sentiments, Footnote 8, Quote Page 237, Harper Torchbooks: … Continue reading

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

The notion that an individual should do something that will outlast his or her life was communicated in religious advice in the 1800s. The idea was well-known enough that it was subject to parody. In 1888 a newspaper in Watertown, New York printed the following joke:^[3] 1888 July 28, Watertown Daily Times, Something for all Time, Page 3, Column 3, Watertown, New York. (GenealogyBank)

“Do something my brother,” said the pastor earnestly, “something that will stand the test of time; something that will outlast your life, and live for generations after you are dead and gone.” And the elder said he would; he had gone into a real estate and railroad deal, and expected to leave his children a law suit that would keep them busy about 200 years.

In 1942 one-hundred years after the birth of William James the periodical “The Humanist” printed an article by M. C. Otto discussing the centenary. The author presented an instance of the  saying in which the article “a” was omitted:^[4] 1942 Winter, The Humanist, The William James Centenary by M. C. Otto, Start Page 137, Quote age 138, Published by the American Humanist Association, Schenectady, New York. (Verified on microfilm)

Here are two that always recur to me together:

“The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.”

“Wherever a process of life communicates an eagerness to him who lives it, there the life becomes genuinely significant.”

Also in 1942 a reference titled “As William James Said: Extracts from the Published Writings of William James” printed a version of the quotation that matched the instance in the letter in 1900.^[5]1942, As William James Said: Extracts from the Published Writings of William James, Selected and edited by Elizabeth Perkins Aldrich, [Freestanding quotation], Quote Page 51, Vanguard Press, New … Continue reading The meticulous page notes for the text indicated that the words were from “T.C.W.J., II, 289”. This abbreviated code referred to “The Thought and Character of William James”, Volume 2, Page 289. So this instance is actually based on the 1935 reference given previously in this article.

In February 1943 the “Ladies’ Home Journal” printed the saying and credited William James. The magazine stated that the words were from the book “Doctors in Shirt Sleeves” which had been published in 1940. The word “a” was omitted in this version:^[6] 1943 February, Ladies’ Home Journal, [Freestanding quotation coupled with attribution], Quote Page 103, The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Verified on paper)

The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.   —WILLIAM JAMES:
Quoted in Doctors in Shirt Sleeves, Edited by Sir Henry Bashford.  (Veritas Press.)

In March 1943 the Baptist minister and Masonic author Joseph Fort Newton wrote a newspaper column titled “Everyday Living” that contained a variant of the saying without ascription. The column contained multiple adages and several were unattributed:^[7] 1943 March 11, Schenectady Gazette, Everyday Living by Joseph Fort Newton, Page 20, Column 3, Schenectady New York. (Old Fulton)

The highest use we can make of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it—that is the surest token of immortality.

In April 1943 a Michigan newspaper printed a column called Sermonograms that included the quote without attribution:^[8] 1943 April 23, Marshall Evening Chronicle, Sermonograms, Quote Page 3, Column 4, Marshall, Michigan. (NewspaperArchive)

The great use of a life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. Faith knows more than wisdom.

In May 1943 the adage appeared in newspapers in multiple locations throughout the U.S. as a filler item, and it was credited to James, e.g., in Cuba, New York;^[9] 1943 May 13, The Patriot and Free Press, [Freestanding untitled quotation], Page 6, Column 5, Cuba, New York. (Old Fulton) Huntingdon, Pennsylvania;^[10] 1943 May 21, Huntingdon Daily News, [Freestanding untitled quotation], Quote Page 13, Column 6, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. (NewspaperArchive) and Lumberton, North Carolina:^[11] 1943 May 26, Lumberton Robesonian, [Freestanding untitled quotation], Quote Page 6, Column 5, Lumberton, North Carolina. (NewspaperArchive)

The great use of a life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.—William James.

In December 1943 Eleanor Roosevelt included a version of the aphorism in her newspaper column, and she credited James. The word “a” was omitted and the phrase “will outlast” was used instead of “outlasts”:^[12] 1943 December 24, The Canton Repository, My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, Page 23, Column 4, Canton, Ohio. (GenealogyBank)

“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” (William James).

In 1959 an instance of the expression was printed in the “New Treasury of Stories for Every Speaking and Writing Occasion” by Jacob M. Braude. In a curious twist, the words were ascribed to the brother of William James:^[13]1959, New Treasury Of Stories For Every Speaking And Writing Occasion by Jacob M. Braude, Section: Life, Page 215, Quotation Number 1461, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. (Internet … Continue reading

1461. The greatest use of a life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.       —Henry James

In conclusion, QI believes William James should receive credit for the quotation in the 1935 work “The Thought and Character of William James”. The 1948 edition of this work indicated in a footnote that James penned the quotation in a letter dated November 13, 1900.

(Thanks to Kurt Wolbrink whose inquiry was used by QI to fashion this question. Many thanks to Ian Ellis of “Today In Science History” who told QI about the 1948 edition of “The Thought and Character of William James” which included the footnote pointing to James’s letter dated November 13, 1900 containing the quotation under examination.)

Update History: On March 17, 2022 the 1948 citation was added and the article was partially rewritten.