“Thought and theory must precede all action that moves to salutary purposes. Yet action is nobler in itself than either thought or theory.”

Attributed by Anna Jameson in her A Commonplace Book of Thoughts, Memories and Fancies (1854).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Thought and theory must precede all action that moves to salutary purposes. Yet action is nobler in itself than either …" by William Wordsworth?
William Wordsworth photo
William Wordsworth 306
English Romantic poet 1770–1850

Related quotes

Virginia Woolf photo

“Thought and theory must precede all salutary action; yet action is nobler in itself than either thought or theory.”

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English writer

Sometimes ascribed to Virginia Woolf, but it appeared as early as 1854 in Anna Jameson's A Commonplace Book of Thoughts, Memories and Fancies, where it is ascribed to William Wordsworth.
Misattributed

Alice A. Bailey photo

“Arrest each unloving thought; stamp out each critical action, and teach yourself to love all beings - not in theory but in deed and in truth.”

Alice A. Bailey (1880–1949) esoteric, theosophist, writer

Source: "Discipleship in the New Age" (1944), p. 475

Paul Glover photo

“Action without theory is reckless; theory without action is worthless.”

Paul Glover (1947) Community organizer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; American politician

(speech at Center for Popular Economics, Summer Institute), 2006-07-27

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo

“The humanitarian in theory is the terrorist in action.”

Isabel Paterson (1886–1961) author and editor

Source: The God of the Machine (1943), p. 242

Ralph Waldo Emerson photo

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

This expression is widely misattributed to Emerson in journalism, tweets, and memes on the internet. This quotation in an earlier phrasing of Jared Eliot's statement “It used to be the Saying of an old Man, That an Ounce of Experience is better than a Pound of Science.” (Essays upon Field Husbandry, 1748; quotation reprinted in "Jared Eliot, Minister, Physician, Farmer" by Rodney H. True. Agricultural History Vol. 2, No. 4 (Oct., 1928) https://www.jstor.org/stable/3739311, p199). The quote has also been misattributed to Friedrich Engels, a claim possibly originating from the 1975 book The Strange Case of Victor Grayson by Reg Groves ( link http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Udk7LCxtvugJ:socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2010_05_02_archive.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)
Misattributed

Tryon Edwards photo

“Thoughts lead on to purposes; puposes go forth in actions; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny.”

Tryon Edwards (1809–1894) American theologian

Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, pp. 114-115.

Gene Wolfe photo

“Action, you see, is the end that thought achieves. Action is its only purpose. What else is it good for? If we don't act, it's worthless.”

Gene Wolfe (1931–2019) American science fiction and fantasy writer

Volume 2, Ch. 1
Fiction, The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996)

Georges Bernanos photo

Related topics