Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.
-- Thomas H. Huxley
Bollox. If you're just about to hit a toddler with a brick, by all means hesitate.
Leviathud weighed in:
From personal experience, too much of my time has been wasted hesitating and worrying about the worst of possible consequences. Life would have been much more interesting had I, to paraphrase a slogan, "just done it".
eolake said...
My point is that sayings like "He who hesitates is lost" apply well to a frontier world with bears and so on. In a real civilization mature thought is often necessary on complex issues.
... I've looked up the author of the quote, and like I suspected, he lived in the old west, and was a man of the type who would also proudly say: "The great end of life is not knowledge but action" (an actual quote of his.) In other words a "rugged individual" type. Very valuable type in society, but not the only type needed. Thoughtful types are needed too.
Paul noted:
Seems to me anyone who always and consistently behaves one way or the other -- either always acts or always hesitates -- isn't paying much attention to the circumstances he's in and whether those circumstances demand one or the other course.
22 comments:
For some strange reason I dont think that qualifies as a 'good deed'. Unless, maybe, that toddler was Damien. Then by all means hit him! Hit him quick!
And like the saying goes, He who hesitates is lost.
From personal experience, too much of my time has been wasted hesitating and worrying about the worst of possible consequences. Life would have been much more interesting had I, to paraphrase a slogan, "just done it".
I think if you're contemplating hitting a toddler with a brick, don't hesitate to come to the decision not to do it - the consequences you're risking in that case are not going to jail. :-)
My point is that sayings like "He who hesitates is lost" apply well to a frontier world with bears and indians. In a real civilization mature thought is often necessary on complex issues.
I think like anything else, it's possible to take it too far both ways. There's a time to sit and think about what you're doing, and there's a time to just plunge head first and let life happen to you.
My point is that sayings like "He who hesitates is lost" apply well to a frontier world with bears and indians.
Huh? You received your 'education' about indians from John Wayne movies?
I can remember a lot of occasions when I "wisely hesitated," but the aphorism does apply to some of life's biggest choices. Asking a girl out, for example -- when all else is said and done, if she's still up in the air about whether or not she's attracted to you, your display of decisive forward directness in and of itself is enough to tip the scales in your favor. So the very act of acting is the act which makes the act successful.
Interesting epistemological phenomenon, that. :)
I am the sort who wants to know everything about the pond before diving in. My parents inform me that my first steps were a complete diagonal of the largest room in the home, seventeen in all without a fall, from safe haven at the footstool to successful destination at the high chair ... but that I stood holding the footstool and considering my fate intermittently for four days before making my first (and successful) attempt.
Hah. I probably did the same.
I always thought a *lot*. But my life does not suck.
"You received your 'education' about indians from John Wayne movies?"
It's a metaphor, man. :)
There are times when I missed opportunities because the timing didn't feel right, and I hesitated. Hindsight is 20/20 though.
As for Indians, I still am known to say Jellyfish, not jellies, I heard someone say starfish, not sea star, and I know people who still think of Pluto as a planet. We all know the modern word, but with a full life of using the old names it gets very difficult to change.
Remember in the 70's when the coins still said shilling, though we used them as 5p, and the shops still priced things in pre-decimal.
Besides, Indian was a frontier at one time, though tigers and Indians would go better. Waffle ramble blah.
OK, I edited the indians part, I do not wish this discussion to become about semantics or political correctness. And I admit it was wrongheaded.
But which type appeals more to the ladies, the "rugged individual" or us thoughtful ones, that's the question!
I bet Thomas H. Huxley bedded more women than all of us combined! :-(
Heck, we haven't even been able to get Hannah and Laurie to pose for DOMAI, so clearly this "thoughtful" strategy isn't working too well, is it? ;-)
Heck, as far as I'm concerned, Thomas can keep the liver decease and the STDs.
Ok, now I actually looked him up. He was an English biologist, i.e. a scientist! Two other quotations from him:
"Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors."
"Only one absolute certainty is possible to man, namely that at any given moment the feeling which he has exists."
Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.
-- Thomas H. Huxley
Only a fool would speak this way.
Seems to me anyone who always and consistently behaves one way or the other -- either always acts or always hesitates -- isn't paying much attention to the circumstances he's in and whether those circumstances demand one or the other course.
The point of your incredibly cerebral post was clear. People make fun of pseudo-intellectuals like you, that's all.
Beware of the thinkers whose minds function only when fueled by a quotation.
E. M. Cioran
Dear Kool Moe Dee,
Thank you so kindly. I am glad I also have mental giants like you amongst the readers of my pseudo-intellectual ramblings.
'Nuff said! Ha ha ha
Nobody should take a statement like Huxley's and use it as a blanket statement for all situations. Obviously brick smacking a child is a bad idea, but if the only way to get the child out from infront of oncomming car is to brick smack him (and let's hope that situation never arises) then by all means brick smack him, just dont spend your day considering it.
Good point.
Just don't do it too hard.
Well, I *would* offer to pose, but really, I'm a guy, honest. And I still haven't received any decent offers from DOWAI. (Any offer from an existing site would be decent, actually.)
fallen darkness said...
"Only a fool would speak this way."
Wisely spoken, as usual.
fallen darkness said...
"Only a fool would speak this way."
Wisely spoken, as usual.
Thank you.
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