Action Quote by Francois de La Rochefoucauld

However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

No act terminating in itself constitutes greatness.

— William Hazlitt

An action is essentially good if the motive of the agent be good, regardless of the consequences.

— Immanuel Kant

So actions themselves are not good and not bad; only the intention is important.

— Stephen Mitchell

The profit on a good action is to have done it.

— Seneca the Younger

A great thing can only be done by a great person; and they do it without effort.

— John Ruskin

Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential.

— Eric Burns

All great acts are ruled by intention. What you mean is what you get.

— Brenna Yovanoff

There is no act, however virtuous, for which ingenuity may not find some bad motive.

— Thomas Jefferson

An excellent job with a dubious undertaking, which is like saying it would be great if it wasn't awful.

— Ada Louise Huxtable

The greatness of action includes immoral as well as moral greatness--Cortes and Napoleon, as well as Luther and Washington.

— Edwin Percy Whipple

Do not ever say that the desire to 'do good' by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives.

— Ayn Rand