Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
He who reflects too much will achieve little.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Be slow to resolve, but quick in performance.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
The tendency of modem science is to reduce proof to absurdity by continually reducing absurdity to proof.
—Samuel Butler
What are the convulsions of a city in comparison with the insurrections of the soul? Man is a depth still greater than the people. Jean Valjean at that very moment was the prey of a terrible upheaval. Every sort of gulf had opened again within him. He also was trembling, like Paris, on the brink of an obscure and formidable revolution. A few hours had sufficed to bring this about. His destiny and his conscience had suddenly been covered with gloom. Of him also, as well as of Paris, it might have been said: Two principles are face to face. The white angel and the black angel are about to seize each other on the bridge of the abyss. Which of the two will hurl the other over? Who will carry the day?
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Where bad’s the best, bad must be the choice.
—Unknown
They can because they think they can Virgil As a man thinketh so is he and as a man chooseth so is he.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Between two stools one sits on the ground.
—French Proverb
Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can — and surely will at times — fail. Other vulnerabilities, like being embarrassed or risking love, can be terrifying, too. I think we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk.
—Joyce Brothers (1927–2013) American Psychologist, Advice Columnist
Choose always the way that seems best, however rough it may be, and custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.
—Pythagoras (570–495 BCE) Greek Philosopher
No man who has not sat in the assemblies of men can know the light, odd and uncertain ways in which decisions are often arrived at.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) English Dramatist, Essayist
The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.
—Moses Maimonides (1135–1204) Jewish Philosopher, Rabbinic Scholar
Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
Continually one faces the horrible matter of making decisions. The solution … is, as far as possible, to avoid conscious rational decisions and choices; simply to do what you find yourself doing; to float in the great current of life with as little friction as possible; to allow things to settle themselves, as indeed they do with the most infallible certainty.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide … And the choice goes by forever ‘twixt that darkness and that light.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
How could a man be satisfied with a decision between such alternatives and under such circumstances? No more than he can be satisfied with his hat, which he’s chosen from among such shapes as the resources of the age offer him, wearing it at best with a resignation which is chiefly supported by comparison.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Living is a constant process of deciding what we are going to do.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
Life is just an endless chain of judgements…. The more imperfect our judgement, the less perfect our success.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
All we see of someone at any moment is a snapshot of their life, there in riches or poverty, in joy or despair. Snapshots don’t show the million decisions that led to tht moment.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
Nothing can be more destructive to vigor of action than protracted, anxious fluctuation, through resolutions adopted, rejected, resumed, and suspended, and nothing causes a greater expense of feeling. A man without decision can never be said to belong to himself; he is as a wave of the sea, or a feather in the air which every breeze blows about as it listeth.
—John Foster Dulles (1888–1959) American Republican Public Official, Lawyer
Whenever I make a bum decision, I just go out and make another.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
Don’t stand shivering upon the bank; plunge in at once, and have it over.
—Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796–1865) Canadian Author, Humorist, Businessperson, Judge
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.
—Samuel Butler
Quick decisions are unsafe decisions.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
You can only predict things after they’ve happened.
—Eugene Ionesco (1909–94) Romanian-born French Dramatist
Many persons of high intelligence have notoriously poor judgement.
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
The most important fact about Spaceship Earth: an instruction book didn’t come with it.
—Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American Inventor, Philosopher
To do nothing is also a good remedy.
—Hippocrates (460–370 BCE) Ancient Greek Physician
Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
Life is the sum of all your choices.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Alternatives, and particularly desirable alternatives, grow only on imaginary trees.
—Saul Bellow (1915–2005) Canadian-American Novelist
Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
No answer is also an answer.
—American Indian Proverb
Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardship of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Faith … acts promptly and boldly on the occasion, on slender evidence.
—John Henry Newman (1801–90) British Theologian, Poet
When a man takes the road to destruction, the gods help him along.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
When people ask for time, it’s always for time to say no. Yes has one more letter in it, but it doesn’t take half as long to say.
—Edith Wharton (1862–1937) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose.
—David Livingstone (1813–73) Scottish Missionary, Explorer
The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.
—David Starr Jordan (1851–1931) American Zoologist, Educator, Peace Activist
The soul of dispatch is decision.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Indecision becomes decision with time.
—Unknown
People “died” all the time … Parts of them died when they made the wrong kinds of decisions—decisions against life. Sometimes they died bit by bit until finally they were just living corpses walking around. If you were perceptive you could see it in their eyes; the fire had gone out … you always knew when you made a decision against life … The door clicked and you were safe inside safe and dead.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
Wisdom consists in being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Human foresight often leaves its proudest possessor only a choice of evils.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Decide which is the line of conduct that presents the fewest drawbacks and then follow it out as being the best one, because one never finds anything perfectly pure and unmixed, or exempt from danger.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher