We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause. William James None so little enjoy themselves, and are such burdens to themselves, as those who have nothing to do. Only the active have the true relish of life. William Jay It is happily and kindly provided that in every life there are certain pauses, and interruptions which force consideration upon the careless, and seriousness upon the light; points of time where one course of action ends and another begins. Samuel Johnson Sorrow is the mere rust of the soul. Activity will cleanse and brighten it. Samuel Johnson Many persons wonder why they don’t amount to more than they do, have good stuff in them, energetic, persevering, and have ample opportunities. It is all a case of trimming the useless branches and throwing the whole force of power into the development of something that counts. W.J. Johnston Life is the faculty of spontaneous activity, the awareness that we have powers. Immanuel Kant Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means but always also as an end. Immanuel Kant Act so that the maxim of your act could be made the principle of a universal law. Immanuel Kant You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere. Charles F. Kettering You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time. J.S. Knox However brilliant an action may be, it ought not to pass for great when it is not the result of a great design. François de La Rochefoucauld Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action to all eternity. Johann Lavater He is incapable of a truly good action who finds not a pleasure in contemplating the good actions of others. Johann Lavater A word that has been said may be unsaid—it is but air. But when a deed is done, it cannot be undone, nor can our thoughts reach out to all the mischiefs that may follow. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action. James Russell Lowell The man who saves time by galloping loses it by missing his way; the shepherd who hurries his flock to get them home spends the night on the mountain looking for the lost; economy does not consist in haste, but in certainty. Ramsay MacDonald It is well to think well; it is divine to act well. Horace Mann We live in an age of haste. Some people look at an egg and expect it to crow. Orison Swett Marden It is the direct man who strikes sledgehammer blows, who penetrates the very marrow of a subject at every stroke and gets the meat out of a proposition, who does things. Orison Swett Marden So much one man can do that does both act and know. Andrew Marvell Give a good deed the credit of a good motive; and give an evil deed the benefit of the doubt. Brander Matthews There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself. Somerset Maugham We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow-men; and along those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects. Herman Melville Every duty brings its peculiar delight, every denial its appropriate compensation, every thought its recompense, every cross its crown; pay goes with performance as effect with cause. Charles Mildmay The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference. Henry Miller Life is a short day; but it is a working day. Activity may lead to evil, but inactivity cannot lead to good. Hannah More A good way to rid one’s self of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character. William Morris