Non-Action Quotes

Not to act is to act. Not to speak is to speak.

As muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone, it could be argued that those who sit quietly and do nothing are making one of the best possible contributions to a world in turmoil.

Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. Therefore the Master remains serene in the midst of sorrow. Evil cannot enter his heart. Because he has given up helping, he is people's greatest help. True words seem paradoxical.

Not deciding is a decision. Let’s all remember that when we decide not to do something.

It is useless to try to stir the dirt Out of the muddy water, As it will become murkier. But leave it alone, And if it should be cleared; It will become clear by itself.

Creating without claiming, Doing without taking credit, Guiding without interfering, This is Primal Virtue.

The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, not because he wills to be quiet. . . . Joy does all things without concern. For emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness, silence, and non-action are the root of all things.

In each case you settle on an act. Doing nothing at all counts as an act.

Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself.

The sage desires no desire, does not value rare treasures, learns without learning, recovers what people have left behind.

Practice non-action. Work without doing.

He is beginning to master wisdom when he tries to learn how not to try.

I have no desire to be a cat, which walks so lightly that it never creates a disturbance.

James McAvoy is not an action star.

Heaven does without doing through its purity, Earth does without doing through its calmness.

to not act is a choice too

Act without doing; work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many. Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. The Master never reaches for the great; thus she achieves greatness. When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it. She doesn't cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her.

Making no decision is a decision. To do nothing. And doing nothing always brings you to nowhere.

To the man who can perfectly practice inaction, all things are possible.

The Tao never acts with force, yet there is nothing that it can not do.

Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand.

Acting without design, occupying oneself without making a business of it, finding the great in what is small and the many in the few, repaying injury with kindness, effecting difficult things while they are easy, and managing great things in their beginnings; this is the method of Tao.

I don't plan to go out and do action or not do action.

Only the intelligent knows how to identify all things as one. . . . When one is at ease with himself, one is near Tao. This is to let Nature take its own course.

...not deciding to act would be identical with deciding not to act.