# Quote — Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy

> In 1902 William James, the great American psychologist, redefined religion not as dogma but as experience — the discovery of a new context, an unseen order with which the individual might achieve harmony. Our ordinary consciousness filters out awareness of this mysterious, enlarged dimension, yet until we have come to terms with its existence we must beware lest we make a "premature foreclosure on reality." Of all the creatures of earth, James said, only human beings can change their pattern. "Man alone is the architect of his destiny. The greatest revolution in our generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

- Author: [Marilyn Ferguson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson.md)
- Book: [The Aquarian Conspiracy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Ferguson#Chapter_Two,_Premonitions_of_Transformation_and_Conspiracy) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/in-1902-william

## More from this book

> The seed of God is in us, Meister Eckhart said. "Pear seeds grow into pear trees, nut seeds into nut trees, and God seed into G o d .''

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/the-seed-of-god.md)

> Spiritual or mystical experience, the subject of this chapter, is the mirror image of science—a direct perception of nature's unity, the inside of the mysteries that science tries valiantly to know from the outside. This way of understanding predates science by thousands of years. Long before humankind had tools like quantum logic to describe events that ordinary reason could not grasp, individuals moved into the realm of paradox through a shift in consciousness. And there they know that what cannot be is.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/spiritual-or-mystical.md)

> Many old friendships and acquaintances fall away; new friendships, even a whole new support network, take their place. Based as they are on shared values and a shared journey, these new relationships are perhaps more intense.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marilyn-ferguson/the-aquarian-conspiracy/many-old-friendships.md)