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Activity does not consist in velocity of change but in constancy of purpose.
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“Activity does not consist in velocity of change but in constancy of purpose.”

George Santayana

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Source
The Life of Reason
Date
1905
Meaning

Meaning of “Activity does not consist in velocity of change…”

Being busy or changing quickly is not the same as purposeful action; continuity of aim gives activity its direction.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Life of Reason; the line appears in Santayana’s analysis of ideas, activity, and sustained direction.

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Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

CalmConsistencyDecisionDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortGoalsHabitsHard WorkInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeaceProductivityPurpose Quotes About Direction, Duty & Meaningful WorkResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortSuccessWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellActionFocusMotivation For Work
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If you would make anything a habit, do it.
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“If you would make anything a habit, do it.”

Epictetus · Discourses of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Habit formation is reduced to repeated action: the behavior itself is what trains the pattern.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter XVIII, “How we should struggle against appearances,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. This short catalog record is an excerpt of Long’s longer clause “Generally then if you would make any thing a habit, do it”; this collection lightly normalizes “any thing” to “anything.”

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Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
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“Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”

Benjamin Franklin · Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · 1791
Meaning & context

Resolution becomes useful only when followed by execution; the maxim links deliberate standards with the habit of carrying them through.

Source details

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part II, thirteen-virtue table: Resolution. Project Gutenberg #148 (Charles W. Eliot / Harvard Classics, 1909) preserves the represented wording; the reviewed direct locator is Wikisource Section Thirty Six.

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Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do to-day.
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“Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do to-day.”

Benjamin Franklin · The Way to Wealth · 1758
Voice: Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham
Meaning & context

The maxim turns prompt action into a habit: work that can reasonably be completed now should not be needlessly transferred to an uncertain tomorrow.

Source details

The Way to Wealth; a Poor Richard maxim on delay and useful employment of time.

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I would concentrate upon the manufacture of iron and steel and be master in that.
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“I would concentrate upon the manufacture of iron and steel and be master in that.”

Andrew Carnegie · Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie · 1920
Meaning & context

Focused specialization can create depth of knowledge and execution by directing limited attention toward mastering one field instead of scattering effort across many ventures.

Source details

Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie; Carnegie describes his decision to concentrate his business attention on iron and steel.

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The master-word is Work
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“The master-word is Work”

William Osler · The Master-Word in Medicine · 1903
Meaning & context

Osler makes sustained work the organizing principle of his address to medical students, emphasizing disciplined practice over brilliance without application.

Source details

The Master-Word in Medicine, address delivered October 1, 1903 at the opening of the new buildings of the University of Toronto Medical Faculty; reviewed against the represented 1903 John Murphy pamphlet, Internet Archive identifier b28060805. ‘The master-word is Work’ is Osler’s organizing refrain and is followed by his appeal to write the word on the heart and forehead. This remains historical professional rhetoric rather than an endorsement of unsafe working hours or workaholism.

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