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ADVENTURE

BEGINNING

CAUSES & CONSEQUENCES

CONSEQUENCES

CHOICES

DECISIONS, DEEDS

DESTINY, DETERMINATION

DILIGENCE

(ON) DOING GOOD

EXCITEMENT

EXERCISE

FATE

FORGIVENESS

HABITS

IDLENESS

INACTION

INITIATIVE

JUST DESSERTS

KARMA

LUCK

PERSISTENCE

RECIPROCATION

REJECTION

RESOLUTION(S)

RESULTS

REVENGE

SUCCESS

TAKING A STAND

WORK


We have too many high sounding words, and
too few actions that correspond with them.
--Abigail Adams (1744—1818)
American first lady [1797—1801], the wife of John Adams, second president of
the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of
the United States.
Letter to John Adams [16 October 1774].

...it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.
--attributed to Samuel Adams (1722—1803)
American revolutionary leader

-

Abraham Lincoln and his law partner, William Herndon,
were arguing the question of whether or not any person
ever performs a completely unselfish act. They were riding
together through the country and came upon a pig caught
in a rail fence. Herndon pretended not to see the animal
and passed on by.

But Lincoln stopped, got down and waded through a
muddy ditch, pulled the rails apart and released the pig.
Herndon pointed triumphantly to Lincoln's muddy shoes
and spattered trousers, saying, "You see now I am right.
Men are capable of performing unselfish deeds."

"Oh no," replied Lincoln, "if I had left that pig in the fence,
I would have worried about him all night. I would have
been so busy wondering if someone had rescued him, or
if he was still held between those rails, that I would have
lost my sleep. For my own peace of mind, I had to rescue
the animal. So, you see, I was merely being selfish."

--Charles Livingston Allen (1913—2005)
American minister.
_The Greatest of These is Love_ [1986], "Love Overcomes Destructive Emotions"

-

Those who will not reason
Perish in the act:
Those who will not act
Perish for that reason.
--W.H. [Wystan Hugh] Auden (1907—1973)
English-born poet and man of letters.
"Shorts" [1974]

But men must know, that in this theatre of man's
life it is reserved only for God and angels to be
lookers on.
--Francis Bacon (1561—1626)
English philosopher and essayist.
_The Advancement of Learning_ [1605]

The firefly only shines when on the wing.
So is it with the mind — when once we rest
We darken.
--Philip James Bailey (1816—1902)
English poet.
_Festus_ [1839]

The awakenings of remorse, virtuous shame and indignation,
the glow of moral approbation,— if they do not lead to action,
grow less and less vivid every time they recur, till at length
the mind grows absolutely callous.
--Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld [nιe Aikin] (1743—1825)
English poet.
"An Inquiry into those Kinds of Distress which Excite Agreeable Sensations" [1773]

Let's meet and either do or die.
--Francis Beaumont (c. 1584—1616)
English Jacobean playwright and poet who collaborated with John
Fletcher on comedies and tragedies between 1606 and 1614.
_The Island Princess_, III, ii [c. 1619—1621]

Be slow in considering, but resolute in action.
--Bias (c. 6th cent. B.C.)
Greek politician of Priene; considered one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
Quoted in Diogenes Laλrtius _Lives of the Eminent Philosophers_ "Bias".

-

By their fruits ye shall know them.
--Bible
New Testament, "Matthew" 7:20


Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and
daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish
you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing
about his physical needs, what good is it?
--Bible
"James" 2:15-16

-

Decision of character is one of the most important of human qualities,
philosophically considered. Speculation, knowledge, is not the chief
end of man; it is action. ...'Give us the man,' shout the multitude, 'who
will step forward and take the responsibility.' He is instantly the idol,
the lord and the king among men. He then, who would command
among his fellows, must excel them more in energy of will, than in
power of intellect.
--George W, Burnap (1802—1859)
American pastor and author.
"Lectures to Young Men" , Lecture III "On the Formation of Character" [1840]

Put his shoulder to the wheel.
--Robert Burton (1577—1640)
English scholar, cleric, and author.
_The Anatomy of Melacholy_, pt. II, sect. I [1621—1651]

Hast thou not Greek enough to understand thus much:
the end of Man is an Action and not a Thought, though
it were of the noblest.
--Thomas Carlyle (1795—1881)
Scottish historian and political philosopher.
_Sartor Resartus_, bk. II, ch. vi [1833—1834]

As I grow older, I pay less attention to
what men say. I just watch what they do.
--attributed to Andrew Carnegie (1835—1919)
American businessman and philanthropist of Scottish birth.

Every one is the son of his own works.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist,
_Don Quixote de la Mancha_, Pt. I, bk. IV, ch. xx [1605]

This world is but the vestibule of an immortal life.
Every action of our lives touches on some chord
that will vibrate in eternity.
--Edwin Hubbel Chapin (1814—1880)
American clergyman and author.
Attributed in Charles Northend _Memory Gems_, p. 6 [1890].

-

Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
--Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773)
British writer and politician.
Letter to His Son [10 March 1746].


An able man shows his Spirit by gentle words and resolute actions.
--Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773)
British writer and politician.
Quoted in _Letters Written by the Earl of Chesterfield to
His Son_, vol. 3 [1827] (Pub. by Mrs. Eugenia Stanhope).

-

-

Deliberate with caution, but act with decision;
and yield with graciousness, or oppose with
firmness.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.
_Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words ..._, # CCLXXXIV [1821 ed.]


The only things in which we can be said to have any property are
our actions. Our thoughts may be bad, yet produce no poison; they
may be good, yet produce no fruit. Our riches may be taken away
from us by misfortune, our reputation by malice, our spirits by
calamity, our health by disease, our friends by death. But our
actions must follow us beyond the grave; with respect to them
alone, we can not say that we shall carry nothing with us when
we die, neither that we shall go naked out of the world.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.
_Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words ..._, LII [1821 ed.]

-

-

Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.
--Confucius (551—479 B.C.)
K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher.
_The Confucian Analects_, ch. 15, v. 23


A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
--Confucius (551—479 B.C.)
K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher.
Quoted in Maturin M. Ballou _Treasury of Thought_, p. 490 [15th ed. 1894].

-

The result of a single action may spread like the
circles that expand when a stone is thrown into a
pond, until they touch places and people unguessed
at by the person who threw the stone.
--Robertson Davies (1913—1995)
Canadian author and playwright.
"Literature and Moral Purpose" (essay) [1990]

I have long since come to believe that people never mean
half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their
talk and judge only their actions.
--Dorothy Day (1897—1980)
American journalist, reformer, and co-founder of the "Catholic Worker."
_The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of ... Dorothy Day _ [1952]

Action may not always bring happiness;
but there is no happiness without action.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].
_Lothair_, ch. 3 [1870]

There is only one proof of ability — action.
--Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830—1916)
Austrian writer.
_Aphorisms_ [1880—1905]

Don't SAY things. What you ARE stands over
you the while, and thunders so that I cannot
hear what you say to the contrary.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.
"Social Aims" in _Letters and Social Aims_ [1876]

Handsome is that handsome does.
--Henry Fielding (1707—1754)
English novelist and dramatist.
_A History of Tom Jones, a Foundling_, bk. IV, ch. xii [1749]

Well done is better than well said.
--Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790)
American politician, inventor, and scientist.
_Poor Richard's Almanack_ [1737]

I hate to see a thing done by halves; if it be right,
do it boldly; if it be wrong, leave it undone.
--Bernard Gilpin (1517—1583)
English theologian.
Attributed in _The Saturday Magazine_ [15 September 1832].

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
--Oliver Goldsmith (1728—1774)
Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and dramatist.
Attributed in _The Children's Friend_, vol. XII [1913].

Make the least ado about your greatest gifts. Be
content to act, and leave the talking to others.
--Baltasar Graciαn (1601—1658)
Spanish Jesuit philosopher.
_The Art of Worldly Wisdom_ [1647], as quoted
by Larry Chang in _Wisdom for the Soul_ [2006].

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time;
It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
--Sydney J. Harris (1917—1986)
American journalist.
_Strictly Personal_, p. 220 [1953]

Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be
doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary
than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human
frame.
--William Hazlitt (1778—1830)
English essayist.
_Table Talk_ [1821—1822] "On the Pleasure of Painting"

I find the great thing in this world is not so much
where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes
with the wind and sometimes against it — but we must
sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809—1894)
American physician, poet, and essayist.
_The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table_ [1858]

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)
Justice of the United States Supreme Court,
legal historian, and philosopher.
"Memorial Day Address" Keene, N.H. [30 May 1884].

Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero!
(Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow!)
--Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65—8 BC)
Roman poet.
_Odes_, book I, , ode xi, last line [23 B.C.]

An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.
--James Howell (1593—1666)
British writer.
Attributed in James Wood (ed.) _Dictionary of Quotations from
Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources_, p. 14 [1893].

Our acts make or mar us, we are the children of our own deeds.
--Victor Hugo (1802—1885)
French poet, dramatist, and novelist.
Attributed in Henry Southgate
_Things A Lady Would Like To Know_ [1875, 2nd ed.].

That action is best which procures the greatest
happiness for the greatest numbers.
--Francis Hutcheson (1694—1746)
British philosopher.
_An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of
Beauty and Virtue_, Treatise II, Section 3 [1725]

The great end of life is not knowledge but action.
--T.H. (Thomas Henry) Huxley (1825—1895)
English biologist; grandfather of Aldous Huxley.
"Technical Education" [1877]

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
--attributed to William James (1842—1910)
American philosopher.

Do not let your deeds belie your words; lest when
you speak in church someone may mentally reply,
'Why do you not practice what you profess?'
--Saint Jerome (c. 340—c. 420)
Translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin.
Letter LII to Nepotian [394], as quoted in Philip Schaff &
Henry Wace (eds.) _A Select Library of Nicene and Post-
Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church_, vol. VI [1893].

-

Grace is beauty in action.
--Joseph Joubert (1754—1824)
French philosopher.
_Recueil des pensιes de M. Joubert_ ("Collected Thoughts of Mr. Joubert") [1838]

& see:

Justice is truth in action.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].
Speech in House of Commons [11 February 1851].

-

I never made a dime talking.
--Sebastian Spering Kresge (1867—1966)
American entrepreneur, founder of the S. S. Kresge Company.
Entire speech at the dedication of Kresge Hall at the Harvard
Graduate School of Business Administration in 1953.

Although men flatter themselves with their great actions,
they are not so often the result of a great design as of
chance.
--Franηois de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Reflections; or, Sentences and Moral Maxims_ [1678]

The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action
by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.
--Charles Lamb (1775—1834)
English essayist.
Quoted in "The Athenaeum" (London) [4 January 1834].

I have always thought the actions of men
the best interpreters of their thoughts.
--John Locke (1632—1704)
English political and educational philosopher.
_An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ [1690]

-

Deeds are better things than words are,
Actions mightier than boastings.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882)
American poet.
_The Song of Hiawatha_ [1855]


No action, whether foul or fair,
Is ever done, but it leaves somewhere
A record, written by fingers ghostly,
As a blessing or a curse, and mostly
In the greater weakness or greater strength
Of the acts which follow it.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882)
American poet.
_Christus—The Golden Legend_, pt. II, "A Village Church"

-

Every man feels instinctly that all the beautiful
sentiments in the world weigh less than a single
lovely action.
--James Russell Lowell (1819—1891)
American poet, critic, essayist, and diplomat.
First published in the "North American Review" [July 1867].

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion
of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing
on earth for you. Act for yourself.
--Katherine Mansfield (1888—1923)
New Zealand writer.
"Journal" [14 October 1922]

Remember this, — that there is a proper dignity
and proportion to be observed in the performance
of every act of life.
--Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121—180)
Roman emperor [161—180] and Stoic philosopher.
_Meditations_, IV, 32

Actions speak louder than words.
--_Melancholy State of Province_ [1736]
Quoted in A. M. Davis _Colonial Currency_, III. 137 [1911]

It is a great deal better to live a holy life than
to talk about it. . . . Light-houses don't ring
bells and fire cannon to call attention to their
shining — they just shine.
--Dwight Lyman Moody (1837—1899)
American evangelist and publisher.
Quoted in S. P. Linn _Golden Gleams of Thought_, p. 140 [1906, 9th ed.].

A man always has two reasons for what he
does — a good one, and the real one.
--John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837—1913)
American banker, financier, and benefactor of the arts.
Attrib. by Owen Wister in _Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship_ [1930].

Few men of action have been able to make
a graceful exit at the appropriate time.
--Malcolm Muggeridge (1903—1990)
British writer, broadcaster, and journalist.
_Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography_ [1972]

-

Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth
hereafter is the good that he does in this world
to his fellows.
--Muhammad (A.D. 570?—632)
Prophet to whom the religion of Islam was revealed.
Attributed in Rev. James Wood (ed.) _Dictionary of Quotations ..._, p. 91 [1893].


Actions will be judged according to intentions.
--Muhammad (A.D. 570?—632)
Prophet to whom the religion of Islam was revealed.
_The Sayings of Muhammad_, tr. Abdullah Al-Suhrawardy [1941]

-

To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction:
or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are
always equal, and directed to contrary parts.
--Sir Isaac Newton (1642—1727)
English mathematician and physicist.
_Principia Mathematica_ "Laws of Motion" 3 [1687]

We are all inclined to judge ourselves
by our ideals; others by their acts.
--Harold Nicolson (1886—1968)
English diplomat, politician, and writer.
Quoted in "Reader's Digest" [May 1936].

[Contrasting EDS and the company which acquired it, GM:]
The first EDSer to see a snake kills it. At GM, first thing you
do is organize a committee on snakes. Then you bring in a
consultant who knows a lot about snakes. Third thing you
do is talk about it for a year.
--Ross Perot (b. 1930)
American businessman, philanthropist, and independent
candidate for U.S. president in 1992 and 1996.
Quoted in "Business Week" [6 October 1986].

Gentlemen, I think it is about time we 'pulled our fingers
out' . . . If we want to be more prosperous we've simply
got to get down to it and work for it. The rest of the world
does not owe us a living.
--Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1921)
Consort of Queen Elizabeth II.
Speech in London [17 October 1961].

To do an evil action is base; to do a good action, without incurring
danger is common enough; but it is the part of a good man to do
great and noble deeds though he risks everything.
--Plutarch (A.D. 46?—119?)
Greek philosopher and biographer.
Attributed in James Comper Gray _The Biblical Museum_, p. 64 [1871].

Not always actions show the man: we find
Who does a kindness is not therefore kind.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.
_Moral Essays_ [1731—1735],
"Epistle I, To Lord Cobham" [1734]

Das Alter wδgt, die Jugend wagt
(Age considers, youth ventures.)
--Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach (1784—1852)
German dramatist.
Quoted in James Wood
_Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern_, p. 53 [1893].

Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit,
and you reap a character. Sow a character, and
you reap a destiny.
--Charles Reade (1814—1884)
English novelist and playwright.
Attributed in _Notes and Queries_, 9th series, vol. 12 [July—December 1903].

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was
never intended to become an oyster.
--Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919)
American Republican statesman and President [1901-1909].
Speaking to his children, quoted in David McCullough
_Mornings on Horseback_ [1981].

Vivre, ce n'est pas respirer, c'est agir.
(Living is not breathing but doing.)
--Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712—1778)
French philosopher and novelist.
_Emile; or, Treatise on Education_, bk. 1, sec. 41 [1762]

What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end,
of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.
--John Ruskin (1819—1900)
English art and social critic.
_The Crown of Wild Olive_ [1887]

Prius quam incipias consulto, et ubi consulueris mature facto opus est.
(Get good counsel before you begin; and when you have decided,
act promptly.)
--Sallust [Gaius Sallustius Crispus] (c. 86 BC—35/34 BC)
Roman historian.
_Bellum Catilinae_ (Catiline's War) [43-42 BC]

Wer gar zu viel bedenkt, wird wenig leisten.
(He that is overcautious will accomplish nothing.)
--Friedrich von Schiller (1759—1805)
German poet, historian, and dramatist.
_Wilhelm Tell_ [1804]

Our intentions tend to be much more real to us than our actions,
and this can lead to a great deal of misunderstanding with other
people, to whom our actions tend to be much more real than
our intentions.
--E.F. Schumacher (1911—1977)
German-born British economist.
_A Guide For The Perplexed_ [1977]

Talkers are no good doers.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_King Richard III_, I, iii [1592—1593]

Remember that in all miseries lamenting
becomes fools, and action, wise folk.
--Sir Philip Sidney (1554—1586)
English soldier, poet, and courtier.
Quoted in Jane Porter (ed.) _Aphorisms of Sir Philip Sidney_ [1807].

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done...
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little did.
--Shel Silverstein (1930—1999)
Ameican poet and songwriter.
In _Falling Up_ [1996].

We know what a person thinks, not
when he tells us what he thinks,
but by his actions.
--Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904—1991)
Polish-American novelist who won the 1978 Nobel Prize for Literature.
"New York Times Magazine" [26 November 1978]

-

So many worlds, so much to do,
So little done, such things to be.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809—1892)
English poet.
"In Memoriam A. H. H." [1850]


Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809—1892)
English poet.
"The Charge of the Light Brigade", st. 2 [1854]

-

Always do right. This will gratify some
people, and astonish the rest.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
Note to the Young People's Society, Greenpoint Presbyterian
Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. [16 February 1901].

If you really want to judge the character of a man,
look not at his great performances. Every fool may
become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man
do his most common actions; these are indeed the
things which will tell you the real character of a
great man.
--Vivekananda (1863—1902)
Hindu spiritual leader and reformer.
_Swami Vivekananda on Universal Ethics and Moral
Conduct_ {Comp. by Swami Ranganathananda} [1965].

The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it
is what the man or woman is able to do that the world cares about.
--Booker T. Washington (1856—1915)
African-American educator.
"Mind and Matter" Address to the Alabama State
Teachers' Association, Selma, Ala. [5 June 1895].

With every deed you are sowing a seed,
though the harvest you may not see.
--Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850—1919)
American author and poet.
"You Never Can Tell" In _Custer And Other Poems_ [1896]

Things said or done long years ago,
Or things I did not do or say
But thought that I might say or do,
Weigh me down, and not a day
But something is recalled,
My conscience or my vanity appalled.
--William Butler Yeats (1865—1939)
Irish poet and dramatist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
"Vacillation" in _The Winding Stair and Other Poems_ [1933]

-----

abulia [uh-BOO-lee-uh], noun:
Loss or impairment of the ability to act or to make decisions.

exigent [EK-suh-juhnt], adjective:
1. Requiring immediate aid or action; pressing; critical.
2. Requiring much effort or expense; demanding; exacting.
Ex.: An exception to the warrant rule was established when
exigent circumstances required officials to act immediately.
--Warren Richey, "Of merchant ships and crack-sellers'
cars," _Christian Science Monitor_, [20 May 1999]

expedient (adj.)
1. Appropriate, advisable, or useful in a situation that requires action
2. Advantageous for practical rather than moral reasons

lissom, also lissome [LISS-uhm], adjective:
1. Limber; supple; flexible.
2. Light and quick in action; nimble; agile; active.

solecism (noun)
A socially awkward or tactless act.
Synonyms: faux pas, gaffe, slip, gaucherie


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