What does this quote mean?

“Well done is better than well said.”

Franklin gives execution priority over impressive promises or intentions.

Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

The line rejects passive fatalism and places responsibility for circumstances more directly on human decisions, ambition, and action.

Source note: Act 1, Scene 2; Cassius argues that human choices matter more than fate.

“Self-help is the best help.”

Asking for help does not replace the responsibility to make the effort that is already within one’s own power.

Source note: Moral printed after “Hercules and the Wagoner” in the Townsend translation; Hercules first tells the driver to help himself.

“Here is my work, here or nowhere.”

Carlyle’s imagined capable leader locates responsibility in the actual sphere available to him rather than waiting for a more convenient setting in which to act.

Source note: Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. IV “The New Downing Street”; Project Gutenberg #1140. The sentence occurs inside Carlyle’s controversial political argument about leadership; this collection uses it for work/responsibility while retaining that historical context.

“Do the Duty which lies nearest thee”

The advice narrows attention from an overwhelming field of possibilities to the responsibility that is already clear enough to act on, with later duties expected to become clearer through action.

Source note: Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter IX; Project Gutenberg #1051. The maxim appears inside Teufelsdröckh’s spiritual conversion narrative; fictional-philosophical voice and religious context remain visible.

“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”

Speed without judgment can undermine the very goal a person is pursuing, so patience becomes part of effective action.

Source note: Act 2, Scene 3; Friar Laurence urges Romeo to move with greater care.