Every act of virtue is an ingredient unto reward.
—Jeremy Taylor
There is no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another.
—E. B. White (1985–99) American Essayist, Humorist
Everything we do has a result. But that which is right and prudent does not always lead to good, nor the contrary to what is bad.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments—there are consequences.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
A human being fashions his consequences as surely as he fashions his goods or his dwelling his goods or his dwelling. Nothing that he says, thinks or does is without consequences.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
Every choice carries a consequence. For better or worse, each choice is the unavoidable consequence of its predecessor. There are not exceptions. If you can accept that a bad choice carries the seed of its own punishment, why not accept the fact that a good choice yields desirable fruit?
—Gary Ryan Blair
Nothing is worth doing unless the consequences may be serious.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The sower may mistake and sow his peas crookedly: the peas make no mistake, but come up and show his line.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Don’t be misled: no one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain—that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher
Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve.
—Edward Albee (1928–2016) American Playwright
Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
We must remember that hatred is like acid. It does more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than to the object on which it is poured.
—Ask Ann Landers (1918–2002) American Advice Columnist
Because right is right, to follow right were wisdom, in the scorn of consequence.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Everyone will experience the consequences of his own acts. If his act are right, he’ll get good consequences; if they’re not, he’ll suffer for it.
—Harry Browne (1933–2006) American Politician, Investor, Writer
Whatever our creed, we feel that no good deed can by any possibility go unrewarded, no evil deed unpunished.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.
—B. F. Skinner (1904–90) American Psychologist, Social Philosopher, Inventor, Author
You can do anything in this world if you are prepares to take the consequences.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Consequences are unpitying.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
When you feel deeply that a certain act is the right act, do it and have perfect faith that the consequences will be good.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
Charisma becomes the undoing of leaders. It makes them inflexible, convinced of their own infallibility, unable to change.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.
—Japanese Proverb
In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law … That would lead to anarchy. An individual who breaks a law that his conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
But men never violate the laws of God without suffering the consequences, sooner or later.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
Every moment of our lives we are either growing or dying—and it’s largely a choice, not fate. Throughout its life cycle, every one of the body’s trillions of cells is driven to grow and improve its ability to use more of its innate yet untapped capacity. Research biologist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who was twice awarded the Nobel Prize, called this syntropy, which he defined as the “innate drive in living matter to perfect itself”. It turns conventional thinking upside down…As living cells—or as people—there is no staying the same. If we aim for some middle ground or status quo, it’s an illusion—beneath the surface what’s actually happening is we’re dying, not growing. And the goal of a lifetime is continued growth, not adulthood. As Rene Dubos put it, “Genius is childhood recaptured”. For this to happen, studies show that we must recapture—or prevent the loss of—such child-like traits as the ability to learn, to love, to laugh about small things, to leap, to wonder, and to explore. It’s time to rescue ourselves from our grown-up ways before it’s too late.
—Robert Cooper (b.1947) British Diplomat
There are no rewards or punishments—only consequences.
—William Motter Inge (1913–73) American Playwright, Novelist