James Thurber Quotes

When in doubt, don't.

I would rather stop too soon than too late.

It is not like I have gone crazy, I just don't want to take any chances. You never know what could happen.

The woman that deliberates is lost.

Never do today what you can do tomorrow. Something may occur to make you regret your premature action.

Sometimes it is better to delay.

Silence is the safest course for any man to adopt who distrust himself.

Never make a decision until you have to.

Everybody has noticed the way cats stop and loiter in a half-open door. Hasn't everyone said to a cat: For heavens sake why don't you come in? With opportunity half-open in front of them, there are men who have a similar tendency to remain undecided between two solutions, at the risk of being crushed by fate abruptly closing the opportunity. The overprudent, cats as they are, and because they are cats, sometimes run more danger than the bold

I prefer to be alive, so I'm cautious about taking risks.

I'm not a betting man.

The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Grant us a brief delay; impulse in everything is but a worthless servant.

You know, there's times when you should play and there's times when you gotta hold back.

I have a lot of faith in President Obama. The thing that seems to be true of him is that he doesn't speak when you would expect him to speak. He's very measured in his response to things. He likes to get all the facts first before he shoots his mouth off. It makes me crazy; it makes a lot of people crazy.

Take the word of experience, I speak the truth: inaction is safest in danger.

Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.

If you play your cards right things are going to happen in the long run. In the short run, it is anybody's guess.

People think I'm crazy and reckless but I'm absolutely not... I'm soooo safe and soooo careful and I won't do anything that feels like I could break something.

[Referring to Jimmy Carter:] Jimmy's basic problem is that he's super cautious. He looks before and after he leaps.

There is not only a right thing to do. There is a right time to do it.

It is all very well to be cautious, but if we are too cautious we will miss our opportunity.

An old warrior is never in haste to strike the blow.

I'm always careful to even guess, at any juncture, about things before we do them.

I wait for options, hoping that a space for a pass will appear at the last moment.