Delay not to seize the hour.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Poet
The hour is ripe, and yonder lies the way.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
The only menace is inertia.
—Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) French Poet, Diplomat
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
Shun idleness. It is a rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
If you want a thing done, go. If not, send. The shortest answer is doing.
—English Proverb
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
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
—Chinese Proverb
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
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
Action, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
If deeds are wanting, all words appear mere vanity and emptiness.
—Greek 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
The end of man is action.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The great end of life is not knowledge, but action.
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95) English Biologist
To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
He who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him.
—Dutch Proverb
Stagnation is something worse than death: it is corruption also.
—William Gilmore Simms (1806–70) American Poet, Novelist, Historian
Every beginning is hard.
—Unknown
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 keen spirit seizes the prompt occasion; makes the thought start into instant action, and at once plans and performs, resolves, and executes!
—Hannah More
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
Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.
—Victor Kiam (1926–2001) American Entrepreneur
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
Many are called but few get up.
—Oliver Herford (1863–1935) American Writer, Artist, Illustrator
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
How long will they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?
—Bob Marley (1945–81) Jamaican Musician, Singer, Songwriter
The biggest sin is sitting on your ass.
—Florynce Kennedy (1916–2000) American Lawyer, Civil Rights Leader, Feminist, Activist
Boast not of what thou would’st have done, but do.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
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
Above all, try something.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Delay always breeds danger, and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe, so no thought or action is without its effects, present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt.
—Norman Cousins (1915–90) American Journalist, Author, Academic, Activist
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 without actions are the assassins of idealism.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
Talking is easy, action difficult.
—Spanish Proverb
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
In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
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
Do noble things, do not dream them all day long.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
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
Action is eloquence.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Act—act in the living present.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Ideas are one thing, and what happens is another.
—John Cage (1912–92) American Composer
As long as you can start, you are all right. The juice will come.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
Beginnings are apt to be shadowy and so it is the beginnings of the great mother life, the sea.
—Rachel Carson (1907–64) American Naturalist, Science Writer
With mere good intentions hell is Proverbially paved.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
If you don’t place your foot on the rope, you’ll never cross the chasm.
—Unknown