"Whatever universe a professor believes in must at any rate be a universe that lends itself to lengthy discourse. A universe definable in two sentences is something for which the professorial intellect has no use. No faith in anything of that cheap kind!"

This quote by William James is a commentary on the nature of academic community and the value of discourse. He is recommending that a professor's beliefs need to be able to be discussed and debated in order to be taken seriously. He is implying that a belief system that can be explained in 2 sentences is not deserving of consideration, as it is too simple and does not permit significant conversation. He is recommending that a professor's beliefs need to be complicated and available to interpretation in order to be taken seriously. This quote talks to the importance of discourse and the requirement for intricacy in scholastic thought. It is a suggestion that a teacher's beliefs must have the ability to stand up to analysis and be discussed in order to be taken seriously.