The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Encouraging discussion can lead to inaction among people.
This quote suggests that engaging individuals in conversation about a particular subject may lead to their complacency or inaction regarding that topic. When people discuss matters extensively, they may feel they have addressed the issue adequately, resulting in a reluctance to take action or make decisions. Therefore, it implies that sometimes talking too much about something can prevent necessary action.
Themes
DiscussionInactionConversationWordsComplacency
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a meeting to emphasize the importance of taking action rather than just discussing ideas.
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes →Thirty millions, mostly fools.
Thomas CarlyleRead
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
Thomas CarlyleRead
For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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