Inaction Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old inaction quotes, inaction sayings, and inaction proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction. John F. Kennedy
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
Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Inaction may be safe, but it builds nothing. Dave Freudenthal
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Dale Carnegie
Take the word of experience, I speak the truth: inaction is safest in danger. Silius Italicus
There are many roads to prosperity, but one must be taken. Inaction leads nowhere. Robert Zoellick
The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake. Meister Eckhart
Inaction will cause a man to sink into the slough of despond and vanish without a trace. Farley Mowat
All choices are fraught with peril, but inaction is the most perilous of all. Frewin Jones
In a critical sense, doing nothing can mean doing something. Inaction can be action and embracing this paradox can save your life. Ben Sherwood
Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Thoughtless risks are destructive, of course, but perhaps even more wasteful is thoughtless caution which prompts inaction and promotes failure to seize opportunity. Gary Ryan Blair
Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Inaction, letting be, neither creating nor destroying--that is my evil. And also the knower as one without desire. Friedrich Nietzsche
Inaction that results from indulgence is Procrastination. Inaction that results from intention is Patience. Rory Vaden
The only thing between you and success is your thinking. Defeatist thoughts are the mother of inaction. Iimani David
There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,” and an optimist who says, “Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.” Either way, nothing happens. Yvon Chouinard
One has to speak out and stand up for one's convictions. Inaction at a time of conflagration is inexcusable. Mahatma Gandhi
The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything. Albert Einstein
Action cures fear, inaction creates terror. Douglas Horton
To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual. Oscar Wilde
The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction. Freya Stark
Inaction, contrary to its reputation for being a refuge, is neither safe nor comfortable. Madeleine M. Kunin
One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men. Bhagavad Gita
Inaction without more is not tantamount to choice. Benjamin N. Cardozo
Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in. Confucius
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Will Rogers
Inaction, save as a measure of recuperation between bursts of activity, is painful and dangerous to the healthy organism - in fact, it is almost impossible. Only the dying can he really idle. H.L. Mencken
Whatever the dangers of the action we take, the dangers of inaction are far, far greater. Tony Blair