Man of action

“ This single art has, amongst every free people, especially in peaceful settled governments, met with the greatest encouragement, and been attended with the most powerful efficacy: for what can be more surprising, than that, amidst an infinite multitude, one man should appear, who shall be the only, or almost the only man who can do what nature has put in every man’s power? ”

“ But the enterprise itself was no less fortunate in being projected and carried into execution by a man whom no obstacles could daunt, no disasters discourage, no doubts paralyze, no opposition dishearten. If you, to whom the conduct of this great enterprise was assigned by the will of Providence and the judgment of your fellow-men, had been found wanting in courage, in energy, in determination, and in a faith that was truly sublime, the very grandeur of the undertaking would only have rendered its failure the more conspicuous. ”

“ Whether we deplore the social transformations that have arisen or glorify them, we must take the nation as it is, facts as they are, enter into the spirit of our time, in order to exercise an action over that spirit. ”

“ But in the efforts of the people,—of the people struggling for their rights, moving, not in organized, disciplined masses, but in their spontaneous action, man [69] for man, and heart for heart,—there is something glorious. They can then move forward without orders, act together without combination, and brave the flaming lines of battle, without intrenchments to cover or walls to shield them. ”

“ On every hand we see illustrations of the transforming power of the ideal. It is outpictured in the faces we see in the street, in trains and shops, in theaters and churches, wherever people congregate.
How quickly we can select from a crowd of strangers the successful business man. His initiative, leadership, executive ability, speak out of his face and manner. The same is true of men in other vocations,—of the scholar, the clergyman, the lawyer, the teacher, the doctor, the farmer, the day laborer. ”

“ Do not imagine, Arthur--or, at all events, imagine as little as you can. Action is what the world calls for, is what the world demands of its leaders. And if you can act in such a way as not to oppose an established order of things, success is all the more sure. ”

“ Who has ever done more to instruct the world,—to enable men to rise not in fortune merely, but in virtue and patriotism, in those things which are of themselves the only reward? We should consider these labors, as well as the new method he taught to arrive at knowledge, in our estimate of the sage as well as of the man. ”

“ How reasonable that this leader should have to give serious thought to this situation and seek to understand nature's powerful influences in guiding the actions of both himself and his men. What folly for him to expect to be able to handle them blindly, hit or miss, without consideration of man's peculiarities and the fundamental things that control him. ”

“ We are justified, then, in saying of this man that he has been tried and tested in every mode by which the quality of a human heart and the capacity of a human intellect can be disclosed; by adversity, by prosperity, by poverty, by wealth, by leadership in deliberative assemblies, and in the perilous edge of battle, by the height of power and of fame. ”

“ It is on the motives and actions which characterise this self-denial and enterprise, that the hero and the statesman fix their attention; forming their models, and drawing their conclusions, not from the passive inclinations, but from the capabilities of our species, not from what man would or ought to prefer, but from what he has achieved when stimulated by hope, goaded by ambition, or instigated by desperation. ”

“ His principles would not permit him to do many things that others did; and in the few fields where conscience would allow him to work, who would employ a man who had flown in the face of society, as he had done? ”

“ Such victories of the forces of good may be slow in being accomplished, but they will be all the more thorough and durable in their effects, because they will be the product of the people's own thought and effort. ”

“ By this term has come to be understood that concerted and systematic effort which men put forth for the removal of evils, personal and social, and the attainment of a higher good through wiser action and better conduct. ”

“ In reality the spirit we call discipline is the result of the leader's whole conduct of himself and his job, of his personality and methods, of everything he does for his men, to his men and with them. ”

“ Inspired by great ideals, our plan of action should be worthy of them, we should organize, and fight on as bold and brave a scale as they.
It is not intellect, but courage that we lack. They are no more wise than we. ”

“ To the praise of human nature let it be said, that from the very beginning of his industrial and commercial scheme, his courage, perseverance, imperturbable coolness, honesty, exactitude in fulfilling all his engagements, and his constant schemes, as prudent as they were ingenious, met with that support and good-will which a man who possesses these qualities will always obtain. ”

“ We set out on a course of action, planned, as we believe, from benevolent motives, — and we push on, in our own strength, determined to overcome every obstacle, and by main force to break down all opposition, and to effect our object at every hazard: — and what is the result? we accomplish nothing: we find ourselves, after all our efforts, farther from the point aimed at than when we set out. ”

“ Every human being has duties to be performed, and, therefore, has need of Thought alone is eternal.—Owen Meredith. cultivating the capacity for doing them—whether the sphere of action be the management of a household, the conduct of a trade or a profession, or the government of a nation.
Only those live who do good.— Tolstoi. The one fixed truth in the matter of character-building is the fact that steady attention to the little matters of detail lies at the very foundation of human progress. ”

“ And just then the day was fast approaching when the moral idea, which so far had broken out only sporadically, and moved small numbers of men to open action, should receive a reinforcement strong enough to transform a forlorn hope into an army of irresistible strength. ”

“ In short, to perform the work which he did, extending over so long a period, in the face of so many Administrations, week after week, year after year,—to be outvoted, beaten, laughed at, standing on many occasions almost alone,—to persevere in the face of every discouragement, preserving his temper unruffled, never relaxing in his energy or his hope, and living to see the greater number of his measures adopted with acclamation, must be regarded as one of the most remarkable illustrations of the power of human perseverance that biography can exhibit. ”

“ We ain’t got our values of men’s work figured out right yet—the value of the man that gives orders and of the man that takes ’em. I hear people talkin’ as if the history of a battle was what the generals did. ”

“ Let a man do a good deed, commit himself to a noble work, and all the creative, uplifting forces will rush to his aid. He will be reënforced by the [Pg 353] added power of all others working in the same spirit, on the same plane. ”

“ It appears again and again in the reminiscences of those who have succeeded, that from time to time they have deliberately chosen a course of action which by force [12] of habit has become a personal characteristic, and has earned them national, if not world-wide, reputation. ”

“ Whenever the qualitative standard had been operative, it was necessary that the leaders in any form of creative action should be men of highly developed intellect, fine sensibility, wide and penetrating vision, nobility of instinct, passion for righteousness, and a consciousness of the eternal force of charity, honour, and service. ”

“ Now since every activity, whether of knowing or doing, aims at some good, it is for us to settle what the good is which the civic activity aims at,—what, in short, is the ultimate end of all 'goods' connected with conduct? ”

“ Can there then be a more stringent public duty for every man—and the greater the intelligence the greater the duty—than to take care, by all the influence he can command, that the country, the majority, public opinion, shall have a mind to do only what is just and pure and humane? ”

“ But with all this true, it does not follow that it is man’s duty to seek an occasion to advertise these qualities. Only when the necessity for action arises, then should he act, and then will the world know what his ability and character are. ”

“ To know where one is going and what one wishes—this is order; to keep one’s word and one’s engagements—again order; to have everything ready under one’s hand, to be able to dispose of all one’s forces, and to have all one’s means of whatever kind under command—still order; to discipline one’s habits, one’s effort, one’s wishes; to organize one’s life, to distribute one’s time, to take the measure of one’s duties and make one’s rights respected; to employ one’s capital and resources, one’s talent and one’s chances profitably—all this belongs to and is included in the word order. ”

“ So the man is praised, who, having subdued all his passions, performeth with his active faculties all the functions of life, unconcerned about the event.”
“Let the motive be in the deed and not in the event. Be not one whose motive for action is the hope of reward. Let not thy life be spent in inaction.”
“For the man who doeth that which he hath to do, without affection, obtaineth the Supreme.”
“He who may behold, as it were inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise amongst mankind. He is a perfect performer of all duty.” ”

“ As in all human events and revolutions, He will pay so much respect to his own exquisitely beautiful machinery of united cause and effect, as to put in action for his own purposes human agents and agencies ”

“ You are, however, striving truly, and that is a great good. With a few mental operations, which we shall be glad to give you at a later time, you shall both be able to take your places as leaders in the march of your peoples toward civilization. ”

“ For these great works you may labour; yes, you are labouring, when you help forward justice, industry, when you promote the education of the people; when you practise, public and private, the virtues of a Christian man; when you hinder these seemingly little things, you hinder also the great. You are the nation's head, and if the head be wilful and wicked, what shall its members do and be? To this class let me say: Remember your position at the head of the nation ”

“ I have got power and I will exercise it.” I have no doubt that, on the whole, a peer for life would exercise it for what he deemed was the public good. Let us hope that. But, after all, he might and could exercise it according to his own will. ”

“ Firstly, our doctrine and theory of action have their own distinct character, which makes it impossible to copy the experiences of other peoples and their methods of treating such questions or social problems. ”

“ The appeal for volunteers in the great battle of life, in exterminating ignorance and error, and planting high on an everlasting foundation the banner of intelligence and right, is directed to you. Burst the trammels that impede your progress, and cling to hope. ”

“ This fact, as far as it symbolizes the moral fact of the Unattainable, the flying Perfect, around which the hands of man can never meet, at once the inspirer and the condemner of every success, may conveniently serve us to connect many illustrations of human power in every department. ”

“ From the moment, however, that a man begins to follow his calling with the avowed purpose not only of fulfilling the duties of his position, but endeavors to grow, morally and intellectually, he belongs to a higher order of humanity. ”

“ Hitherto the life-blood has been gradually chilling in your veins, as you sat aloof within your circle of gentility, while the rest of the world was fighting out its battle with one kind of necessity or another. Henceforth you will at least have the sense of natural and healthy effort for a purpose, and of lending your strength—be it great or small—to the united struggle of mankind. ”

“ And when they are permissive, there are limits to the range of possibilities of heroic action. These limits can be inferred from the whole complex of social traditions, habits, tools, and techniques, and the clash of group interests. ”

“ It is our duty—your duty and mine, and the duty of all who have a little enlightenment—to arouse the public against these survivals of a lower stage, and to fight them incessantly, and now and then to beat them, so that they may be made to respect our views. ”

“ "Act so that every action of yours should be capable of becoming a universal rule of action for all men." ”

“ That duty, at present, was to train our minds by constant exercise, and to fill our brains with varied knowledge, that we might become useful and honored citizens in a commonwealth, standing upon the threshold of a future which promised to be one of glorious and continued progress. Then he bade us good-by feelingly, and left us, each one envying him his chance of adventure and danger, and each sheepishly conscious of tears in his eyes. ”

“ We should promote solid traits such as work ethic and a dignified lifestyle, matching action to rhetoric performing, rather than grandstanding. ”

“ You attach yourself to the ranks that carried thought into action. You inspire yourself with rugged strength by dwelling [Pg 48] on the achievements of ruggedness, forgetting that the progress of the world is not marshalled by those who work with line and rule. ”

“ The eagerness with which they receive instruction, and the inflexible patience and perseverance they display in endeavouring to profit by it, strongly mark those natural principles engrafted in man, to the love of action, and the desire of independence. ”