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A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he's not a man of action. It is as if a tennis player before returning a ball stopped to think about his views of the physical and mental advantages of tennis. You must act as you breathe.
Georges Clemenceau
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Action is essential for success; overthinking can hinder progress.

This quote emphasizes the necessity of taking action in order to achieve results. It suggests that waiting for perfect conditions or over-analyzing situations can prevent a person from being effective, and that just as breathing is a natural action, so should be our propensity to act without hesitation in pursuit of our goals.

Themes

ActionMotivationProgressSuccessDecisiveness

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech to encourage employees to take initiative.

More from Georges Clemenceau

Monet's garden must be included with his works, because he combined the magic of an adaptation of nature with the work of a painter of light. An extension of the studio into the openair, with color tones lavishly spread out on all sides to exercise the eye with seductive vibrations, from which a feverishly aroused retina expects unquenchable joy.
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I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace is an interlude during war.
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When a man asks himself what is meant by action he proves he isn't a man of action.
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America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.
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War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.
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A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he's not a man of action. You must act as you breathe.
Georges ClemenceauRead

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