Thomas a Kempis Quotes

I don't do anything unless I think about it six months in advance.

Deliberate before you begin; but, having carefully done so, execute with vigour.

Prudence, like experience, must be paid for.

Don't try to be brave when it is enough to be intelligent.

It is only by prudence, wisdom, and dexterity that great ends are attained and obstacles overcome. Without these qualities nothing succeeds.

If you think too far ahead, if you even try to think too far ahead, you'll never make it.

If a person cannot foresee the consequences of his act, and is not capable of understanding what he is told about its outcome by those with more experience, it is impossible for him to guide his act intelligently. In such a state, every act is alike to him.

I say to you: Make perfect your will. / I say: take no thought of the harvest, / But only of proper sowing.

See the long view: By all means "plant the corn, milk the cows, and feed the horses" but always keep the eventual "harvest" in mind.

Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom's root.

Consider the bigger picture.....think things through and fully commit!

Bring all your intelligence to bear on your beginning.

However tight things are, you still need to have the big picture at the forefront of your mind.

To act coolly, intelligently and prudently in perilous circumstances is the test of a man - and also a nation.

Work very very hard. This business is no joke. Make sure you know what you want or you might be taking someone else's view instead of your own.

Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.

A chief does not hurry.

The wise man guards against the future as if it were the present.

The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions, for life is a kind of chess.

The great isn't something accidental; it must be willed.

Power is different when you combined it with wisdom. Wisdom allows you to use less power to accomplish more tasks.

Action without thought is empty. Thought without action is blind.

I always know the ending; that's where I start.

Circumspection and caution are part of wisdom.

It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.