Unless a capacity for thinking be accompanied by a capacity for action, a superior mind exists in torture.
—Benedetto Croce (1866–1952) Italian Philosopher, Literary Critic
To know just what has do be done, then to do it, comprises the whole philosophy of practical life.
—William Osler (1849–1919) Canadian Physician
Act—act in the living present.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
The first step is always the hardest.
—Common Proverb
To avoid an occasion for our virtues is a worse degree of failure than to push forward pluckily and make a fall.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
The only menace is inertia.
—Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) French Poet, Diplomat
Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you.
—John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish Roman Catholic Mystic
I myself must mix with action lest I wither by despair.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Boast not of what thou would’st have done, but do.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
The most important thing about getting somewhere is starting right where we are.
—Bruce Fairchild Barton (1886–1967) American Author, Advertising Executive, Politician
He that is overcautious will accomplish but very little.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
—Chinese Proverb
To do anything truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can.
—Og Mandino (1923–96) American Self-Help Author
If we really want to live, we’d better start at once to try.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
Words gain credibility by deed.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
The way to get ahead is to start now. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know now and that you would not have known next year if you had waited.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
As long as you can start, you are all right. The juice will come.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
Talking is easy, action difficult.
—Spanish Proverb
Action is eloquence.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
If deeds are wanting, all words appear mere vanity and emptiness.
—Greek Proverb
Delay always breeds danger, and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
What you theoretically know, vividly realize.
—Francis Thompson (1859–1907) English Poet, Ascetic
If you can talk brilliantly about a problem, it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered.
—Stanley Kubrick (1928–99) American Film Director, Writer, Film Producer, Photographer
The individual activity of one man with backbone will do more than a thousand men with a mere wishbone.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
One’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into action … which bring results.
—Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) English Nurse
We must not waste life in devising means. It is better to plan less and do more.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
The beginning is half of every action.
—Greek Proverb
Words are mere bubbles of water, but deeds are drops of gold.
—Chinese Proverb
Indifference and inaction must always pay a penalty.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Delay not to seize the hour.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Poet
Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
Do noble things, do not dream them all day long.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
Above all, try something.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
That is the principal thing: not to remain with the dream, with the intention, with the being in the mood, but always forcibly to convert it into all things.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian Poet
Shun idleness. It is a rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The wise does at once what the fool does at last.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
The great end of life is not knowledge, but action.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
One of the reasons why so few of us ever act, instead of react, is because we are continually stifling our deepest impulses.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Inspirations never go in for long engagements; they demand immediate marriage to action.
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
Every beginning is hard.
—Unknown
Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.
—Victor Kiam (1926–2001) American Entrepreneur
A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much, and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all.
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French Author
Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
In putting off what one has to do, one runs the risk of never being able to do it.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
—Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Indian Head of State
To attain happiness in another world we need only to believe something, while to secure it in this world we must needs do something.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) American Feminist, Writer