Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Fosdick argues that actions define lives more than abstract ideas.
In plain terms
People live through what they do, not what they think.
What can you take from it?
Act on your ideas to live fully.

Where it applies

  • self-help
  • philosophy
  • career

Putting it to work

  • turn ideas into steps
  • stop overthinking
  • start doing

Questions to consider

  • What idea are you not acting on?
  • How do your actions define your life?

Another view

Ideas still guide actions and provide meaning.

More from Harry Emerson Fosdick

  1. 'I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.'

    Permalink to quote #15
  2. 'Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.'

    Permalink to quote #17
  3. 'Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind's eye, and you will be drawn toward it.'

    Permalink to quote #14

Related quotes

  1. Ideas get substance and value not by being discussed but by being lived.

    Hugh KingsmillHugh Kingsmill quote #14
  2. All religion relates to life, and the life of religion is to do good.

    Emanuel SwedenborgEmanuel Swedenborg quote #3
  3. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.

    Yann MartellYann Martell quote #7