“Mean to” don’t pick no cotton.
—Anonymous
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
An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise.
—Jeremiah Brown Howell
Anything you do can get you fired; this includes doing nothing.
—Unknown
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 Novelist, Polemicist
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
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 are very near to greatness: one step and we are safe; can we not take the leap?
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I myself must mix with action lest I wither by despair.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
The biggest sin is sitting on your ass.
—Florynce Kennedy (1916–2000) American Lawyer, Civil Rights Leader, Feminist, Activist
To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last—but eat you he will.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
It is following the line of least resistance that makes men and rivers crooked.
—Unknown
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
Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Boast not of what thou would’st have done, but do.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
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
Action is eloquence.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult of all.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
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
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
—Chinese Proverb
The sleeping fox catches no poultry.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
If you miss the first buttonhole, you will not succeed in buttoning up your coat.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
He who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him.
—Dutch Proverb
Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
With mere good intentions hell is Proverbially paved.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Doing nothing is the most tiresome job in the world because you cannot quit and rest.
—Unknown
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