Quotes About Action

Most clubs say they will not tolerate any forms of discrimination - that cannot be something that is just said. It needs to be acted on.

Hollow commitments to action in the future are insufficient. Deferring difficult issues must not be tolerated. Our children and grandchildren expect us to speak and act decisively.

In 'Tom and Jerry,' there was hardly any dialogue at all. It was all action. It required a great many drawings to make.

So many times it seemed like there were chances to stop things before they started. Or even stop them in midstream. But it was even worse when you knew in that very moment that there was still time to save yourself, and yet you couldn't even budge.

I knew, in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late: again, I might have missed my chance. But I would at least know I tried, that I took my heart and extended my hand, whatever the outcome. "Okay," he said. He took a breath. "What would you do, if you could do anything?" I took a step toward him, closing the space between us. "This," I said. And then I kissed him.

it's not the thought that counts. In this world, it's the action that counts.

Just breathing in and out suddenly seemed to require a series of massive, separately considered decisions, as if each small action of mine had abruptly become huge compared to all the ones the dead man was not taking.

I read sad stories to inoculate myself against grief. I watch action movies to identify with the quick-witted heroes. Both the same fantasy: I'll escape the worst of it.

They are preparing to go to war, and with so little time to waste, they say what they mean.

Weak men who fall into positions of power are dying to give it up to anyone who will take it. The poor player would throw the ball to someone on the other team just to be rid of the worry of what to do with it, of the dread that he would have to be a man of action for a moment.

There are two kinds of people: those who can't perform the act when they're sad and those who perform it only to escape sadness.

You may be afraid, but you may not let your fear chase you away from what must be done.

I know you're scared, but doing something even though it scares you is the definition of brave.

And I know that when you're scared, the best thing to do is throw yourself into whatever it is that scares you. Just do it. Don't think about what could go wrong. That's a surefire way of never doing anything in life.

Would 'sorry' have made any difference? Does it ever? It's just a word. One word against a thousand actions.

It seems to me like stealing, for men and women to live in the world and do nothing to make it better.

Fear's useless. Either something bad happens or it doesn't: If it doesn't, you've wasted time being afraid, and if it does, you've wasted time that you could have spent sharpening your weapons.

This is my body. I am my soul. These are my lips. I am my word. This is my skin. I am my action. These are my legs. I am my contribution. This is my smile. I am my laughter.

In my view, the recognition that a person has distorted thinking that comes from or produces suffering is important, but it has no inherent implication for action. It doesn't imply medication, incarceration, or any particular brand of treatment. It just means stating openly that an internal conflict is not being resolved, is instead being expressed externally, and that those who did not cause the pain will be the ones to be blamed and to pay for it.

In fact, a case could be made that worrying about a problem actually prevents you from resolving it, because it deceives your mind into thinking that you're doing something when really you're not.

This is probably the advantage of being stupid. Stupid people just do. We tend to overthink. If we could eliminate the "over" and just think, then we could do, too. Only we'd be smarter doers because we'd be thinkers.

Sometimes if you wait too long, it's too late.

As Anne Frank once wrote, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

You could say we've been in a maintenance phase for decades, if not centuries. But now things have gotten destructive, as they have before, and we need to step up from our comfortable lull – our acedia – go to our edge and serve.