No two of us have identical difficulties, nor should we be expected to work out identical solutions. Each, from his peculiar angle of observation, takes in a certain sphere of fact and trouble, which each must deal with in a unique manner. One of us must soften himself, another must harden himself; one must yield a point, another must stand firm - in order the better to defend the position assigned him. Each attitude being a syllable in human nature's total message, it takes the whole of us to spell the meaning out completely.

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James