“Carpe diem, quam minimal credula postero”. = “Seize the day, do not trust in tomorrow.” — Horace
Along with “Carpe diem”, Horacio said, “He who has made a beginning has a work half done”. Indira Gandhi also thought that moving forward is the way to go: “Have a bias towards action: let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan down into small steps and take the first step right away.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy joined the chorus of get your get up and go up and going when he said, “There are risks and costs in a program of action. But they are far less than the long-term risks and costs of comfortable inaction.” And maybe you think people will just assume you mean well without you really needing to, Anon famously noted: “Remember, people will judge you on your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold, but so is a hard-boiled egg.”
There you have it, the argument for not sitting around twiddling your thumbs; but, as with most ideas, there is an alternative point of view. One might suppose that now is the time to dig in, go for the fun of it, strike while the iron is hot, expand, explain, and generally expound on that alternative point of view; But someone could be wrong. Remember Johann von Goethe’s warning: “There is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action.”
If that’s not enough to slow you down, also remember Walter Kerr’s observation: “Half the world is made up of idiots, the other half of people smart enough to take indecently advantage of them.” It would be good to first determine if one is smart, an idiot, or just an intelligent idiot before jumping to an ill-considered conclusion. If all that still doesn’t stop you, persuading you to look before you jump, and convincing you not to jump off the cliff until you learn to fly, listen to Laurence J. Peter, “Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more.” patience”. And speaking of misfortune, even Horace advised you not to trust tomorrow.
OK, you got them, the alternate viewpoints. Do you act or do not act, take risks or play it safe? Sure, you need Carpe diem; but it’s worth noting that even Horace didn’t say he couldn’t wait until after lunch.
With that being said and with a balanced perspective firmly in mind, know that “if you’re not excited, you will be.” –Vince Lombardi
This is not always true, but it is true quite often. It may not be true if you’re the boss’s son, the only one who knows how to drive the truck, or if it’s your ball and you take it and go home if they don’t let you shoot. Other than that, think of it as Lombardi’s immutable law of continued employment. Oliver Wendell Holmes even knew the source of the fire: “Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched by fire. We were allowed to learn early on that life is a deep and passionate thing.”
You probably don’t want to take the emotional thing as far as John Wesley did. He’s the one who said, “I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” Still, John W. Foster’s point is definitely worth keeping in mind: “One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power to kindle its own fire.” To become a torch like Wesley is going too far; but having a match handy to start your own fire can be great, so to speak. Being a genius certainly can’t hurt your chances of avoiding the employment ax if it falls.
If you don’t have a promising future as a genius, Napoleon Hill offers some helpful advice: “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this in mind constantly. Weak desires bring weak results, as does a small amount of fire.” produces a small amount of heat. You have to have a lot of desire to succeed, a lot of enthusiasm from Lombardi. As Publius Terentius Afer noted, “There is nothing so easy that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly.”
Winston Churchill hit the same nail on the head: “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” And Robert Schuller drove it home when he said, “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” Schuller could easily have added, “And do it with enthusiasm.” If you are thinking that the fire you need exceeds your capacity, the popular Anon. has a parting thought just for you: “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way; if not, you’ll find an excuse.”