best quotations about
Action |
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Quotations
 | When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive. — George W. Bush, 1946-, American President 19 likes |
 | Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action. — Wolfgang Goethe, 1749-1832, German poet & philosopher 17 likes |
 | The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. — Paul Valery, 1871-1945, French poet 13 likes |
 | You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 12 likes |
 | Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 11 likes |
 | Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. — William James, 1842-1910, American philosopher 9 likes |
| To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking. — Wolfgang Goethe, 1749-1832, German poet & philosopher 9 likes |
 | Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. — Harry Truman, 1884-1972, American President [1945-1953] 9 likes |
 | Forget mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day. — Will Durant, 1885-1981, American historian & philosopher 8 likes |
 | The future depends on what you do today. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 7 likes |
 | I never worry about action, but only about inaction. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 7 likes |
 | Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. — Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-Jewish physicist 7 likes |
 | All mankind is divided into three groups: those that are immovable, those that are movable and those that move. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 6 likes |
 | Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. — Aldοus Huxley, 1894-1963, English writer 6 likes |
 | Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. — Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Prime Minister 5 likes |
 | The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference. — Henry Miller, 1891-1980, American writer 5 likes |
 | An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox. — Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher 5 likes |
 | One is either judge or accused. The judge sits, the accused stands. Live on your feet. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 5 likes |
| Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. — William James, 1842-1910, American philosopher 5 likes |
 | Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. — Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter 5 likes |
 | It’s all right to hesitate if you then go ahead. — Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956, German writer 5 likes |
 | The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have. — William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic 5 likes |
 | Time to leave now, get out of this room, go somewhere, anywhere; sharpen this feeling of happiness and freedom, stretch your limbs, fill your eyes, be awake, wider awake, vividly awake in every sense and every pore. — Stefan Zweig, 1881-1942, Austrian writer 5 likes |
 | When you want to be active, do not be afraid to do some things wrong, do not be afraid to make some mistakes. — Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter 5 likes |
 | I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving – we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it – but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. — Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer 4 likes |
 | Action is the foundational key to all success. — Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter 4 likes |
 | Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 4 likes |
| Never confuse Motion with Action. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 4 likes |
 | We judge others by their actions but we judge ourselves by our intensions. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1884, American philosopher 4 likes |
 | Action men are the involuntary slaves of wise men. — Fernando Pessoa, 1888-1935, Portuguese poet & writer 4 likes |
 | I’ve never been a coward at heart, although I’ve always been a coward in action. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 4 likes |
 | There is only one proof of ability: action. — Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916, German author of maxims 4 likes |
 | Hell is full of good meanings and wishes. But heaven is fill of good works. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 4 likes |
 | The lion is most handsome when looking for food. — Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian mystic & poet 3 likes |
 | An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. — R. D. Blackmore, 1825-1900, English novelist (misattributed to Gandhi, Emerson, Engels and others) 3 likes |
| One must act in painting as in life, directly. — Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter 3 likes |
| Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 3 likes |
| You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 3 likes |
 | The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. — Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher 3 likes |
| One today is worth two tomorrows. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 3 likes |
 | If not us, who? If not now, when? — John Kennedy, 1917-1963, American President [1961-1963] 3 likes |
 | Life is 10 percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. — Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach 3 likes |
 | The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. — Walt Disney, 1901-1966, American businessman & cartoonist 3 likes |
 | It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting up and taking action. — Honoré de Balzac, 1799-1850, French writer 3 likes |
 | The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 3 likes |
 | Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — H. Jackson Brown, Jr., 1940-2021, American self-help writer 2 likes |
 | Logic won't change an emotion but action will. — Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012, American self-help writer 2 likes |
| The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 2 likes |
 | Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat. — Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983, American writer & philosopher 2 likes |
| It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate. — Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983, American writer & philosopher 2 likes |
 | The Romans, foreseeing troubles, dealt with them at once... for they knew that war is not to be avoided, but is only put off to the advantage of others. — Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527, Italian political philosopher 2 likes |
 | A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times. — Lord Acton, 1834-1902, English historian 2 likes |
 | How many things would you attempt If you knew you could not fail. — Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet 2 likes |
 | Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. — Thomas Jefferson, 1749-1826, American President [1801-1809] 2 likes |
 | We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once. — Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, American President [1923-1929] 2 likes |
| Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 2 likes |
 | To stop means to step back. — Pitigrilli (Dino Segre), 1893-1975, Italian writer 2 likes |
 | Action is eloquence. — William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ Coriolanus 2 likes |
 | If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over? — John Wooden, 1910-2010, American basketball coach 2 likes |
 | I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair. — Alfred Tennyson, 1809-1892, English poet 2 likes |
 | There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired. — Francis Scott Fitzgerald, 1896-1940, American writer 1 likes |
 | It is better to act quickly and be wrong than to hesitate and let the time for action pass. — Carl von Clausewitz, 1780-1831, Prussian military theorist 1 likes |
 | Give me the ready hand rather than the ready tongue. |
 | Put a grain of boldness into everything you do. |
 | Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. — Mother Teresa, 1910-1997, Albanian-Indian nun & missionary |
| Idleness makes hours pass slowly and years swiftly. Activity makes the hours short and the years long. |
| The wise does at once what the fool does at last. |
 | While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done. |
 | The Book had in a high degree excited us to self-activity, which is the best effect of any book. |
| The purpose of man is in action not thought. |
 | Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. |
| Pity that consequences are determined not by excuses but by actions! |
 | We have absolutely no control over what happens to us in life, but what we have paramount control over is how we respond to those events. |
 | A speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs. — Bernard Baruch, 1870-1965, American businessman & statesman |
 | A man is the sum of his actions, of what he does, of what he can do. Nothing else. |
| Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk –and to act. |
| Between 18 and 20, life is like an exchange where one buys stocks, not with money, but with actions. Most men buy nothing. |
| Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts. |
 | It is easier to get into something than to get out of it. |
 | It is the mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in retrospect. |
| In the beginning was the Word. Man acts it out. He is the act, not the actor. |
 | Heaven never helps the men who will not act. |
| To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can. |
 | To become successful you must be a person of action. Merely to “know” is not sufficient. It is necessary both to know and do. |
 | Activity does not necessarily mean life. Quasars are active. And a monk meditating is not inanimate. |
 | No action is good or bad in itself. Only its place in the order of things makes it good or bad. |
 | I know many who couldn’t act when they should, because they didn't act when they could. |
 | The greatness of a life can only be estimated by the multitude of its actions. We should not count the years, it is our actions which constitute our life. — Gottfried Leibnitz, 1646-1716, German philosopher & mathematician |
 | Words are deeds. |
Latin Quotes
 | We gather strength as we go. Vires acquirit eundo. — Virgil, 70-19 BC, Roman poet 109 likes |
 | Actions not words. Res, non verba. 90 likes |
 | Let us be judged by our acts. Spectemur agendo. — Ovid, 43 BC-17 AD, Roman poet 82 likes |
 | Seize the day. Carpe diem. 69 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | In big projects it is difficult to please everyone. Έργμασιν εν μεγάλοις, πάσιν αδείν χαλεπόν. — Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher 10 likes |
 | By deeds, not words. Έργω κ’ ουκέτι μύθω. — Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Prometheus Bound 6 likes |
| Speech is the mirror of action. Τον λόγον είδωλον είναι των έργων. — Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher 5 likes |
 | We can tell the worthy and the unworthy not only from what they are doing but also from what they are thinking. Δόκιμος ανήρ και αδόκιμος ουκ εξ ων πράσσει μόνον, αλλά και εξ ων βούλεται. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 5 likes |
 | First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Τις είναι θέλεις σαυτώ πρώτον ειπέ. Είθ’ ούτως ποίει ά ποιείς. — Epictetus, 50-120 AD, Ancient Greek Stoic philosopher 5 likes |
| For every action consider what has led to it and what follows it and thus proceed. Εφ’ εκάστου έργου, σκόπει τα καθηγούμενα και τα ακόλουθα αυτού και ούτως έρχου επ’ αυτού. — Epictetus, 50-120 AD, Ancient Greek Stoic philosopher 5 likes |
 | Be slow in considering, but resolute in action. Βραδέως εγχείρει· ό δ᾽ αν άρξῃ, διαβεβαιού. — Bias of Priene, 625-540 BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 4 likes |
| Speaking is the shadow of action. Λόγος γαρ έργου σκιή. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 4 likes |
 | Act knowing. Γνους πράττε. — Pittacus of Mytilene, 650-570 BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 4 likes |
 | If your actions have a just cause, you will have the gods as allies. Δίκαια δράσας, συμμάχους έξεις θεούς. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 4 likes |
 | The actions of the young and the decisions of the older worth more. Έργα μεν νεωτέρων, βουλαί δ’ έχουσι των γεραιτέρων κράτος. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Melanippe 3 likes |
| For words never defeat action. Λόγος γαρ τούργον ού νικά ποτέ. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Alcmene 2 likes |
Proverbs
 | Actions speak louder than words. 3 likes |
 | Better wear out shoes than sheets. 3 likes |
Special Quotes
 | Just do It. — Slogan of Nike 2 likes |
