I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.


I didn't think; I experimented.


I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.


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.


I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs.


I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.


I have never heard anything about the resolutions of the apostles, but a good deal about their acts.


I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.


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.


I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.


I never worry about action, but only inaction.


I think there is something, more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision.


I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.


I will act as if what I do makes a difference.


I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.


I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed.


Ideas won't keep, something must be done about them.


If it were done when 'tis done, then t'were well. It were done quickly.


If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be by what he gives.


If you act like you know what you're doing, you can do anything you want — except neurosurgery.

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