“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”

—  William James

Not found in James's writings. Earliest similar cite is to Episcopal Methodist Bishop W. F. Oldham in 1906. Quote Investigator https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/05/10/merely/. A related quote is in James's 1907 book, Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking: "Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered as much of our old knowledge, as many of our old prejudices and beliefs, as we can. We patch and tinker more than we renew. The novelty soaks in; it stains the ancient mass; but it is also tinged by what absorbs it."
Misattributed

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William James 246
American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist 1842–1910

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