However brilliant an action may be, it ought not to pass for great when it is not the result of a great design.
— François de La Rochefoucauld
Also attributed to: La Rochefoucauld
A brilliant action is only truly great when it flows from deliberate, great intention.
Loading discussion...
Civil law judges over action first, intention second; but spiritual law always reverses the two.
— Sallie Chesham
If a man has a right to be proud of anything, it is of a good action done as it ought to be, without any base interest l…
— Laurence Sterne
Things may be seen differently, and differently shown; but actions are visible, though motives are secret.
— Unknown
Do not mind much what a man does, but what view he has in the action.
— Augustine of Hippo
When Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency by the death of Franklin Roosevelt, Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House, …
— Sam Rayburn
Do what you can with what you have where you are.
— Theodore Roosevelt
