74 Inspiring Action Quotes

In our fast-paced world, it often feels like the best intentions can get lost in the noise of daily routines and distractions. Yet, inspiration is all around us, waiting to ignite the drive within. Words have the power to motivate, challenge, and push us toward action, turning dreams into reality. This collection of the top 74 Inspiring Action Quotes has been carefully curated to resonate with your ambitions, fuel your determination, and propel you forward on your journey. Whether you're seeking a spark to start a new project, encouragement to persevere, or simply a daily dose of motivation, these quotes will empower you to take that crucial first step and keep moving ahead. Dive in and let these powerful words inspire you to transform thoughts into actions and potential into achievements.

1. “Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.” - Mahatma Gandhi

2. “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” - Kurt Vonnegut

3. “To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.” - Jacques Derrida

4. “Don't mistake activity with achievement.” - John Wooden

5. “The farther you go, however, the harder it is to return. The world has many edges, and it's easy to fall off.” - Anderson Cooper

6. “Luck?" Drizzt replied. "Perhaps. But more often, I dare to say, luck is simply the advantage a true warrior gains in excuting the correct course of action.” - R.A. Salvatore

7. “Was this a betrayal, or was it an act of courage? Perhaps both. Neither one involves forethought: such things take place in an instant, in an eyeblink. This can only be because they have been rehearsed by us already, over and over, in silence and darkness; in such silence, such darkness, that we are ignorant of them ourselves. Blind but sure-footed, we step forward as if into a remembered dance.” - Margaret Atwood

8. “Remember what happened last time with the 'cuda.” - Carl Hiaasen

9. “Guilt is not a response to anger; it is a response to one’s own actions or lack of action. If it leads to change then it can be useful, since it is then no longer guilt but the beginning of knowledge. Yet all too often, guilt is just another name for impotence, for defensiveness destructive of communication; it becomes a device to protect ignorance and the continuation of things the way they are, the ultimate protection for changelessness.” - Audre Lorde

10. “Jess thought for a moment. 'You know those films where people fight up the top of the Empire State Building or up a mountain or whatever? And there's always that bit when the baddie slips off and the hero tries to save him, but, like, the sleeve of this jacket tears off and goes over and you hear him all the way down. Aaaaaaaaagh. That's what I want to do.' 'You want to watch me plunge to my doom.' 'I'd like to know that I've made the effort. I want to show people the torn sleeve.” - Nick Hornby

11. “We can't undo a single thing we have ever done, but we can make decisions today that propel us to the life we want and towards the healing we need.” - Steve Maraboli

12. “Today, many will choose to live free of conditions and rules governing their own happiness. Why not you? Do not let another day go by where your dedication to other people's opinions is greater than your dedication to your own emotions! Today's a new day!” - Steve Maraboli

13. “Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.” - Steve Maraboli

14. “Make the choice to embrace this day. Do not let your TODAY be stolen by the ghost of yesterday or the "To-Do" list of tomorrow! It’s inspiring to see all the wonderfully amazing things that can happen in a day in which you participate.” - Steve Maraboli

15. “It doesn't matter what you did or where you were...it matters where you are and what you're doing. Get out there! Sing the song in your heart and NEVER let anyone shut you up!!” - Steve Maraboli

16. “God’s word is not just to be heard and repeated, it is to be breathed, lived, and emulated with each action.” - Steve Maraboli

17. “There is no greater force for change than people inspired to live a better life.” - Steve Maraboli

18. “Your greatest self has been waiting your whole life; don't make it wait any longer.” - Steve Maraboli

19. “Action is the universal language of success.” - Steve Maraboli

20. “This is the moment when something once more begins visibly to happen, something truly new and unique...something truly historical, in the sense that history again demands to be heard.” - Vaclav Havel

21. “[Alcohol] not only replaces positive actions which would address the root causes of our despondency – it prevents them, as more energy becomes focused on achieving and recovering from the drunken state.” - CrimethInc.

22. “I dug through my purse for the Glock. There is was, and I realized I'd never set the safety. I decided to consider this a great example of forethought rather than my being the stupidest gun handler on the planet.” - Gini Koch

23. “A desire presupposes the possibility of action to achieve it; action presupposes a goal that is worth achieving.” - Ayn Rand

24. “Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it, sauté it, whatever. MAKE.” - Joss Whedon

25. “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

26. “Es gibt mehr Leute, die kapitulieren, als solche, die scheitern.” - Henry Ford

27. “If you have to ask if you’ve done enough, you haven’t. Each day brings with it the opportunity to do more than you did yesterday.” - Steve Maraboli

28. “sometimes we take chances, sometimes we take pills.” - Fall Out Boy

29. “We are the result of our mere actions. What we do, we become.” - Santosh Kalwar

30. “So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is God to man,When Duty whispers low, 'Thou must,' The youth whispers, 'I can.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

31. “People will always have opinions about your decision because they're not courageous enough to take action on their opinion.” - Steve Maraboli

32. “Never act upon wishful thinking. Act without checking the facts, and chances are that you will be swept away along with the mob.” - Jim Rogers

33. “We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.” - Brother Lawrence

34. “The disempowered mind believes dreams come true; the empowered mind knows you bring your dreams to life.” - Steve Maraboli

35. “Always Remember to take your Vitamins: Take your Vitamin A for ACTION, Vitamin B for Belief, Vitamin C for Confidence ,Vitamin D for Discipline, Vitamin E for Enthusiasm!!” - Pablo

36. “It is too facile to say that the way to follow Tao is to simply go along with the flow of life. Sometimes, like the carp, we must know when to go it alone.” - DENG MING-DAO

37. “It does not take a great supernatural heroine or magical hero to save the world.We all save it every day, and we all destroy it -- in our own small ways -- by every choice we make and every tiniest action resulting from that choice.The next time you feel useless and impotent, remember what you are in fact doing in this very moment. And then observe your tiny, seemingly meaningless acts and choices coalesce and cascade together into a powerful positive whole.The world -- if it could -- will thank you for it.And if it does not... well, a true heroine or hero does not require it.” - Vera Nazarian

38. “Get out of your own way… stop the paralysis by analysis… decide what you want, create a simple plan, and get moving!” - Steve Maraboli

39. “I don’t care what Einstein said about God not playing dice; If he exists, he’s addicted to craps.” - Henry Mosquera

40. “Rarely did events play out as imagined, in any case. The order of future events was transient. In the same way that the past was reconfigured by selective memory, future events, too, were moving targets. One could only act on instinct, grab hold of an intuited perfect moment, and spring into action.” - James Luceno

41. “Action is the activity of the rational soul, which abhors irrationality and must combat it or be corrupted by it. When it sees the irrationality of others, it must seek to correct it, and can do this either by teaching or engaging in public affairs itself, correcting through its practice. And the purpose of action is to enable philosophy to continue, for if men are reduced to the material alone, they become no more than beasts.” - Iain Pears

42. “People tend to be generous when sharing their nonsense, fear, and ignorance. And while they seem quite eager to feed you their negativity, please remember that sometimes the diet we need to be on is a spiritual and emotional one. Be cautious with what you feed your mind and soul. Fuel yourself with positivity and let that fuel propel you into positive action.” - Steve Maraboli

43. “The truth is that judgment and fear will never stop, but they don't actually do anything.” - Julien Smith

44. “Common man does not speculate about the great problems. With regard to them he relies upon other people's authority, he behaves as "every decent fellow must behave,'' he is like a sheep in the herd. It is precisely this intellectual inertia that characterizes a man as a common man. Yet the common man does choose. He chooses to adopt traditional patterns or patterns adopted by other people because he is convinced that this procedure is best fitted to achieve his own welfare. And he is ready to change his ideology and consequently his mode of action whenever he becomes convinced that this would better serve his own interests.” - Ludwig Von Mises

45. “The word "seek" is a verb. Are you treating it as such in your life? If you seek change, success, or love, DO it - BE it!” - Steve Maraboli

46. “Today is a new day. Don't let your history interfere with your destiny! Let today be the day you stop being a victim of your circumstances and start taking action towards the life you want. You have the power and the time to shape your life. Break free from the poisonous victim mentality and embrace the truth of your greatness. You were not meant for a mundane or mediocre life!” - Steve Maraboli

47. “I think all artists struggle to represent the geometryof life in their own way, just like writers deal witharchetypes. There are only so many stories that you cantell, but an infinite number of storytellers.” - Henry Mosquera

48. “And as always seems to happen when I have reached the point where I am ready to take decisive action, everything began to happen at once.” - Jeff Lindsay

49. “Listen for the call of your destiny, and when it comes, release your plans and follow.” - Mollie Marti

50. “INTENT reveals desire; ACTION reveals commitment.” - Steve Maraboli

51. “There are people in this world so rich that when it rains they simply fly away on private jets in search of sun.” - Peggy Kopman-Owens

52. “The consequences of our actions take hold of us, quite indifferent to our claim that meanwhile we have 'improved.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

53. “You can be on the right track and still get run over if you're not moving.” - Orrin Woodward

54. “We are adjured not to burn the candle at both ends.But how many people have verified that physically possible?” - Idries Shah

55. “Why are you in my room?”“Because I can be.”“You shouldn’t be.”“Save it, Rochester. You broke my nose.”“Does it hurt?”He lifted a hand toward his face and dropped it. “You could say that.”“Good.”He nudged a tray on the floor with his boot. It had oatmeal, toast, and orange juice on it. “Hungry?”Honor’s stomach growled. “No.”Ryder’s lips turned up in a fleeting sadistic smile. He kicked the tray across the room. It hit the wall and overturned. “Good.” - Lindy Zart

56. “Most of life's actions are within our reach, but decisions take willpower.” - Robert McKee

57. “They say that rape is the only crime in which the victim has to prove her innocence. And I want you to know, I believe in your innocence. You don’t have to prove anything to me.” - Alina Klein

58. “I find placebos uplifting and exhilarating. It means that taking action--no matter what the action is--might help you feel better.” - A.J. Jacobs

59. “That we are not totally transformed, that we can turn away, turn the page, switch the channel, does not impugn the ethical value of an assault by images. It is not a defect that we are not seared, that we do not suffer enough, when we see these images. Neither is the photograph supposed to repair our ignorance about the history and causes of the suffering it picks out and frames. Such images cannot be more than an invitation to pay attention, to reflect, to learn, to examine the rationalizations for mass suffering offered by established powers. Who caused what the picture shows? Who is responsible? Is it excusable? Was it inevitable? Is there some state of affairs which we have accepted up to now that ought to be challenged? All this, with the understanding that moral indignation, like compassion, cannot dictate a course of action.” - Susan Sontag

60. “The task is not to turn the world upside down but in a given place to do what, from the perspecive of reality, is necessary objectively and to really carry it out.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

61. “Morality and legality have nothing to do with one another. I'm more than fine with breaking a law if it disagrees with my values and morals.” - Ashly Lorenzana

62. “Nothing will change until we change - until we throw off our dependence and act for ourselves.” - Myles Horton

63. “Being a spy was something like standing on the south shore fending off a hurricane with a $2 poncho and an umbrella.” - Lynn Blackmar

64. “Success is hard, rewards are scant and the glory not always there.” - Billie-Jo Williams

65. “When those who are responsible for the leadership of State begin to move in villainous ways; when they begin to destroy the fabric of what it is that our nation is held together with; when they violate the Constitution of our nation and begin to do things that are false to our dreams and our hopes--it is incumbent upon every citizen by right, but also by responsibility, to challenge that administration, to raise their voice in vigorous dissent and to challenge the way in which the state is doing business. And those who fail to do that, should be charged with patriotic treason!” - TEDDY ROOSEVELT

66. “The Professor is coming...” - M Hopkins

67. “You're just setting yourself up for pain and anguish if you do something like that."But pain and anguish were everywhere anyway. Might as well put them to good use.” - Naomi Shihab Nye

68. “Linc was so amazed at what he saw and heard, “This is sooo cool. I love this place. This looks way better than a day spotting weird people at Walmart.” - S.W. Lothian

69. “Free yourself from the need to blame others. There are two reasons that you are where you are right now; action or inaction.” - Steve Maraboli

70. “Be creative and daring in your dreams and the steps you take to bring them to fruition.” - Steve Maraboli

71. “The act of speaking our intentions aloud shifts them from wishful thinking into action.” - Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

72. “We must let our every act be out of love, and for the greater good of all.” - Bryant McGill

73. “I must take action of some sort whilst the courage of the day is upon me.” - Bram Stoker

74. “For every forward action, there is an equally important forward reaction.” - Lorii Myers