Motivational Quotes

Action

We should not be so taken up in the search for truth, as to neglect the needful duties of active life; for it is only action that gives a true value and commendation to virtue.

- Cicero, Marcus T.

Best Quotes about Action

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly.

Schuller, Robert H.

The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going.

Hill, Napoleon

In the final analysis, the questions of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.

Kushner, Rabbi Harold S.

What an elder sees sitting; the young can't see standing.

Proverb, Ibo

Action itself, so long as I am convinced that it is right action, gives me satisfaction.

Nehru, Jawaharlal

Action is the last resource of those who know not how to dream.

Wilde, Oscar

Some people forget to plant in the spring, idle away the summer hours and then expect to reap in the fall.

In action be primitive; in foresight, a strategist.

Char, Rene

Doing nothing is the most tiresome job in the world because you cannot quit and rest.

10.

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. [Matthew 7:12]

Bible

11.

You can't plow a field by turning it over in your mind.

12.

If you want a thing done, go. If not, send. The shortest answer is doing.

Proverb, English

13.

You can't start at the top.

Levenson, Samuel

14.

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.

Nietzsche, Friedrich

15.

The common conception is that motivation leads to action, but the reverse is true -- action precedes motivation. You have to prime the pump and get the juice flowing, which motivates you to work on your goals. Getting momentum going is the most difficult part of the job, and often taking the first step is enough to prompt you to make the best of your day.

Mckain, Robert J.

16.

Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it.

Gandhi, Mahatma

17.

For as one star another far exceeds, So souls in heaven are placed by their deeds.

Greene, Robert

18.

It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.

Proverb, French

19.

If you want a trait, act as if you already have the trait.

James, William

20.

The view only changes for the lead dog.

Sergeant Preston of The Yukon

21.

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.

Gerstner, Lou

22.

The end of man is action, and not thought, though it be of the noblest.

Carlyle, Thomas

23.

No sooner said than done -- so acts your man of worth.

Ennius, Quintus

24.

Everything is in motion. Everything flows. Everything is vibrating.

Dyer, Wayne

25.

My friend, why have you drifted so far away? All motion is relative, maybe it is you who have moved away by standing still.

26.

Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our own deeds.

Cervantes, Miguel De

27.

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.

Clarke, James Freeman

28.

When Demosthenes was asked what were the three most important aspects of oratory, he answered, Action, Action, Action.

Plutarch

29.

Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.

Schmidt, Helmut

30.

Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.

Stevenson, Robert Louis

31.

Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open.

Pine, Arthur

32.

The act is unjustifiable that either begs for a blessing, or, having succeeded gives no thanksgiving.

Quarles, Francis

33.

Action is the real measure of intelligence.

Hill, Napoleon

34.

From small beginnings come great things.

Proverb, American

35.

It is following the line of least resistance that makes men and rivers crooked.

36.

I like these words -- they seem to suggest action: If you hear a kind word spoken Of some worthy soul you know, It may fill his heart with sunshine If you'd only tell him so. If a deed, however humble, helps you On your way to go, Seek the one whose hand has helped you. Seek him out and tell him so. If your heart is touched and tender Towards sinner log and low, It might help him to do better If you could only tell him so.

37.

Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk -- and to act.

Maltz, Maxwell

38.

An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.

Howells, William Dean

39.

Let us be tried by our actions.

Motto

40.

We are always getting ready to live, but never living.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

41.

It is no use trying to sum people up. One must follow hints, not exactly what is said, nor yet entirely what is done.

Woolf, Virginia

42.

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is on a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

Graham, Martha

43.

It is not good enough for things to be planned -- they still have to be done; for the intention to become a reality, energy has to be launched into operation.

Khan, Pir Vilayat

44.

Act quickly, think slowly.

Proverb, Greek

45.

Do something everyday for no other reason than you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.

James, William

46.

We will burn that bridge when we come to it.

Gorski, Nick

47.

In this country men seem to live for action as long as they can and sink into apathy when they retire.

Adams, Charles Francis

48.

Act like you expect to get into the end zone.

Paterno, Joe

49.

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.

Landon, Michael

50.

A good action is never lost; it is a treasure laid up and guarded for the doer's need.

Calderon de la Barca, Pedro