"We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be"

This quote by William James recommends that in order to really understand the meaning of a declaration, we have to also recognize what the contrary statement would be. This implies that in order to acquire a complete understanding of something, we need to additionally understand its opposite. This is because by recognizing the opposite, we can obtain a much better understanding of the original statement. For example, if we are trying to understand the principle of love, we have to also recognize the principle of hate. By recognizing both concepts, we can get a far better understanding of the concept of love. This quote by William James encourages us to believe critically and to think about both sides of a debate in order to get a much better understanding of the reality.