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“Without life there can be no action”
The excerpt connects finite existence with agency: action, pursuit and intention require continued life, which helps explain why future time matters to an active person.
Source note: The Round Table, No. 1, “On the Love of Life,” January 15, 1815. The phrase occurs inside Hazlitt’s broader argument that passions and projects strengthen attachment to life.
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“Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do to-day.”
Voice: Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham
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 note: The Way to Wealth; a Poor Richard maxim on delay and useful employment of time.
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“work while it is called Today.”
The sentence places useful effort in the time actually available now, making present action more important than indefinite postponement.
Source note: Past and Present, Book III, “Reward”; Project Gutenberg #13534. Carlyle echoes biblical language about working while it is day; the source page keeps the religious allusion explicit.
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“’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”
The aging speaker refuses to treat reduced time or strength as a reason to stop seeking meaningful work.
Source note: Ulysses, in the closing address to the mariners.
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“Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!”
Delay is personified as a thief because it quietly removes time that cannot later be recovered.
Source note: David Copperfield; Mr. Micawber’s advice.
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“First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose.”
Deliberate action begins by knowing why an act is being done instead of moving from impulse, distraction, or social pressure.
Source note: Meditations, Book XII, section 20, George Long translation.