Inaction Quotes

See also Act QuotesSee also Act Quotes, Core English Vocabulary (I) Quotes

There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

- John F. Kennedy

During an interview with Roger Ebert regarding his film Munich (2005) and the response from Jewish critics that claim it depicts Israeli and Palestinian causes as morally equivalent: Frankly, I think that`s a stupid charge. The people who attack the movie based on `moral equivalence` are some of the same people who say diplomacy itself is an exercise in `moral equivalence` and that war is the only answer. That the only way to fight terrorism is to dehumanize the terrorists by asking no questions about who they are and where they come from. What I believe is, every act of terrorism requires a strong response, but we must also pay attention to the causes. That`s why we have brains and the power to think passionately. Understanding does not require approval. Understanding is not the same as inaction. Understanding is a very muscular act. If I`m endorsing understanding and being attacked for that, then I am almost flattered.

- Steven Spielberg

It was lights, camera, inaction.

- Terry Gilliam

Inaction may be the biggest form of action.

- Jerry Brown

Inaction is perhaps the greatest mistake of all.

- Charles Schumer

One, a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; Three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

- Isaac Asimov

I never worry about action, but only about inaction.

- Winston Churchill

I never worry about action, but only inaction.

- Winston Churchill

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.

- Leonardo Da Vinci

Surely our inaction with respect to Syria is a poor precedent if we`re fighting a war on terror.

- Bill Kristol

On action alone be thy interest, Never on its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be thy motive, Nor be thy attachment to inaction.

- Aaron Hammerman

A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.

- Adam Clymer

Acceptance is not a state of passivity or inaction. I am not saying you can`t change the world, right wrongs, or replace evil with good. Acceptance is, in fact, the first step to successful action. If you don`t fully accept a situation precisely the way it is, you will have difficulty changing it. Moreover, if you don`t fully accept the situation, you will never really know if the situation should be changed.

- Adeo Ressi

Inaction may be safe, but it builds nothing.

- Alan Quilley

Action cures fear, inaction creates terror.

- Alane Fagin

Creative risk taking is essential to success in any goal where the stakes are high. Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity.

- Alex Hunter

Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity.

- Alex Hunter

In life and business, there are two cardinal sins, ... The first is to act precipitously without thought, and the second is to not act at all. Unfortunately the board of directors and top management of Times Warner already committed the first sin by merging with AOL, and we believe they are currently in the process of committing the second; now is not a time to move slowly and suffer the paralysis of inaction.

- Andy Crawford

There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction

- Andy Krikorian

I never worry about action, but only about inaction

- Winston Churchill

Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.

- Cesar Chavez

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.

- Haile Selassie