Inaction

Explore 4 quotes about Inaction

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

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Topic

Inaction Stagnation Staying active

Author

Leonardo da Vinci

Source

Journals of Leonardo da Vinci

Medium

Personal journal

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Italian

Time

1519 1510s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Da Vinci, Leonardo. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. c. 1519.

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.

John Stuart Mill

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Topic

Political theory Inaction Fighting for justice

Speaker

John Stuart Mill

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1867 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mill, John Stuart. Inaugural Address at St. Andrews. Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1867. Orinally given on 1 Feb. 1867, St. Andrew's University, St. Andrew, Fife, Scotland, UK.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

Alan Watts

The Way of Zen

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Topic

Stillness Inaction Patience

Author

Alan Watts

Source

The Way of Zen

Genre

Religious literature Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Watts, Alan. The Way of Zen. Vintage Books, 1957.

The pursuit of learning is to increase day after day.
The pursuit of Tao is to decrease day after day.
It is to decrease and further decrease until one reaches the point of taking no action.
No action is undertaken, and yet nothing is left undone.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

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Topic

Tao Doing less Inaction

Author

Lao Tzu

Source

Tao Te Ching

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Chinese

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 48.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 48.