"Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small pert of our possible mental and physical resources. ... The human individual thus lives usualy far within his limits; he posseses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and behaves below his optimum. ... Either some unusual stimulus fills them with emotional excitement, or some unusual idea of necessity induces them to make an extra effort of will. Excitements, ideas, and efforts in a word, are what carry us over the dam."
— William James
