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ACCOUNTABILTY

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 [1774].

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

The religious man fears, the man of honor
scorns, to do an ill action.
--Joseph Addison (1672—1719)
English essayist, poet, and dramatist.

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.

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.

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 occur, till at length
the mind grows absolutely callous.
--Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld [nιe Aikin] (1743—1825)
English poet.

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 {EB}.
_The Island Princess_, act II, sc. 2

The time when you need to do something is when no
one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it
can't be done.
--Mary Frances Berry (1938— )
American lawyer and administrator.

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.

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

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.
--Jacob Burnap (1748—1821)
American clergyman.

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

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.

As I grow older, I pay less attention to
what men say. I just watch what they do.
--Andrew Carnegie (1835—1919)
American businessman and philanthropist of Scottish birth.
In Ashton Applewhite, Tripp Evans, & Andrew Frothingham
_And I Quote: The Definitive Collection..._, p. 6 [1992].

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.

Anything that is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
--Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773)
British writer and politician.

Quod est, eo decet uti: et quicquid agas, agere pro viribus.
(What one has, one ought to use; and whatever he does he
should do with all his might.)
--Marcus Tullius Cicero (106—43 BC)
Roman orator and statesman.

-

Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield
with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.


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 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 cannot say that we shall carry
nothing with us when we die, nor that we shall go naked
out of the world.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.

-

I hear and I forget.
I see and I believe.
I do and I understand.
--Confucius (551—479 B.C.)
K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher.

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 & Moral Purpose"

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."

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_ [1870], ch. 3

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest
is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can
do anything you decide to do. You can act to change
and control your life; and the procedure, the process
is its own reward.
--Amelia Earhart (1897—1937)
American aviator who disappeared
in a flight over the Pacific Ocean.

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

What you do speaks so loud that
I cannot hear what you say.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.
In Paul Revere Frothingham _All These_, p. 146 [1969]

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.

You can preach a better sermon with
your life than with your lips.
--Oliver Goldsmith (1728—1774)
Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and dramatist.

-

Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
--Baltasar Graciαn (1601—1658)
Spanish Jesuit philosopher.


The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
--Baltasar Graciαn (1601—1658)
Spanish Jesuit philosopher.
In Wystan Hugh Auden
_Viking Book of Aphorisms_, p. 327 [1988, originally pub. 1962]

-

All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
--Herodotus (484—c.425 BC)
Greek author of the first great narrative
history produced in the ancient world.

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]

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 [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, [23 B.C.], ode xi, last line.

Our acts make or mar us, we are the children
of our own deeds.
--Victor Hugo (1802—1885)
French poet, dramatist, and novelist.

The great end of life is not
knowledge but action.
--Aldous Huxley (1894—1963)
English novelist {grandson of T.H. Huxley}.
_Technical Education_ [1877]

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?
--"James" 2:15-16

-

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


The emotions aren't always immediately subject
to reason, but they are always immediately
subject to action.
--William James (1842—1910)
American philosopher.

-

Do not let your deeds belie your words,
lest when you speak in church someone
may say to himself, "Why do you not
practice what you preach?"
--Saint Jerome (c.340—420?)
Translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin.

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.

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].

It is well to think well; it is divine to act well.
--Horace Mann (1796—1859)
American educator.

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]

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected
by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic
fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.
--Herman Melville (1819—1891)
American novelist and poet.

It is a great deal better to live a holy life than
to talk about it. Lighthouses do not ring bells and
fire a cannon to call attention to their shining--
they just shine.
--Dwight Lyman Moody (1837—1899)
American evangelist and publisher.

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.

Actions will be judged according to
intentions.
--Muhammad (A.D. 570?—632)
Prophet to whom the religion
of Islam was revealed.

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 (1921— )
Consort of Queen Elizaberh 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.

Judge not of actions by their mere effect;
Dive to the centre, and the cause detect;
Great deeds from meanest springs may take their course,
And smallest virtues from a mighty source.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.

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

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_ [1762], bk. 1, sec. 41.

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 misunder-
standing 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_

Talkers are no good doers.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_King Richard III_ [1592—1593], Act I, Scene III, Line 351

Remember that in all miseries lamenting
becomes fools, and action, wise folk.
--Sir Philip Sidney (1554—1586)
English soldier, poet, and courtier.

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.

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 Nov. 1978]

True courage scorns to vent her prowess in a storm
of words; and to the valiant action speaks alone.
--Tobias George Smollett (1721—1771)
English satirical novelist.

-

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" [1854], st. 2


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]

-

With every deed you are sowing a seed,
though the harvest you may not see.
--Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850—1919)
American author and poet.

Caution is the confidential agent of selfishness.
--Woodrow Wilson (1856—1924)
American Democratic statesman and President [1913—1921].
Speech in Chicago, Illinois [12 February 1909].

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.

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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