Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash

Isn’t it awesome to find that you’re capable of more than you thought? Unexpected realizations have a special place in our hearts, and for good reason too: doing what we thought to be impossible marks our existence in the most profound ways possible. Think the light bulb, the telephone, or rockets to the moon.

Today’s ‘quote of the day’ bears an atypical headline, but it’s only out of respect for the man we’re about to quote: William James, an American philosopher and psychologist who lived between 1842 and 1910. James, who was also a physician, was one of the leading thinkers of his time, and one of the most influential philosophers in the United States. He is often dubbed “Father of American psychology,” and is one of the founders of the philosophical school known as pragmatism.

Also a founder of functional psychology, James in the early 1900s delivered a Presidential Address titled “The Energies of Men.” Speaking before the American Philosophical Association, he raised the idea that humans have hidden energy reserves which the psyche can tap in great times of need (excerpt):

“…in exceptional cases we may find, beyond the very extremity of fatigue distress, amounts of ease and power that we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength habitually not taxed at all, because habitually we never push through the obstruction.”

– William James

With great intuition and vision, James realized a hidden power of the human mind: the ability to convert mental energy into physical energy. In case you were wondering how marathon runners go for miles without a stop, now you know.

Pictured above is an admirable example of such a feat: 92-year-old Harriette Thompson. A cancer survivor, Thompson finished San Diego’s 2014 race in 7 hours, 7 minutes and 42 seconds, shattering the record of 9 hours and 53 minutes previously held by Gladys Burrill for a similar marathon in Honolulu. Thompson is currently the fastest female nonagenarian to have completed a 26 mile race.