---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most ominous of fallacies - the…"
description: "\"The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction\" — Freya Stark"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png"
---

#  The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can…

![“The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction” quote by Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png)

> “The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction”

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Static belief that inaction preserves things is a dangerous fallacy; change is inevitable.

**In simple terms:** Thinking nothing changes if you do nothing is false.

Key Takeaway

Embrace change rather than hoping for stasis.

Themes

change stasis fallacy

Mood

cautious thoughtful

Type

philosophical critical

When to use this quote

- personal development
- policy planning
- environmental action

Key Concepts

philosophical psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What risks arise from resisting change?
- When can deliberate inaction be wise?

A Different Perspective

May underestimate benefits of strategic patience.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fallacies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallacies/) [Fallacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallacy/) [Inaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inaction/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/)

## Related quotes

> [Since the time of Plato and Aristotle philosophers have had an interest in taking note of common fallacies in reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randal-marlin/since-the-time-of-plato-and-aristotle-philosophers-have-had-an/)

[Randal Marlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randal-marlin/)

> [The Internet allows the small guy a global marketplace. But technology is harmful in the sense that we get too much information from it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-internet-allows-the-small-guy-a-global-marketplace-but-technology/)

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/)

> [Illusions as bad as mine make people aware of the fallacies of visual information and the pleasure to be derived from such fallacies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vik-muniz/illusions-as-bad-as-mine-make-people-aware-of-the-fallacies-of-visual/)

[Vik Muniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vik-muniz/)

> [Logic invents as many fallacies as it detects; it is a good weapon, but as liable to be used in a bad as in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/logic-invents-as-many-fallacies-as-it-detects-it-is-a-good-weapon-but/)

[Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/)

> [Before he (Francis Bacon) came along, people conducted all their arguments through a series of logical fallacies or simply shouting louder than the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/before-he-francis-bacon-came-along-people-conducted-all-their/)

[Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/)

> [Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/economics-is-haunted-by-more-fallacies-than-any-other-study-known-to-2/)

[Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/)

> [“Death would not surprise us as often as it does, if we let go of the misbelief that newborns are less mortal than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/death-would-not-surprise-us-as-often-as-it-does-if-we-let-go-of-the/)

[Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/)

> [One of the most persistent fallacies about the Christian Church is that it kept learning alive during the Dark and Middle Ages. What the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-e-knight/one-of-the-most-persistent-fallacies-about-the-christian-church-is/)

[Margaret E. Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-e-knight/)

> [It is a fearful mistake for us to neglect the study of the Bible to investigate theories that are misleading, diverting minds from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/it-is-a-fearful-mistake-for-us-to-neglect-the-study-of-the-bible-to/)

[Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/)

> [Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fallacies-do-not-cease-to-be-fallacies-because-they-become-fashions/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If fallacies come knocking at my door,I'd rather feed, and shelter full a score,Than hide behind the black portcullis, doubt,And run the risk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/if-fallacies-come-knocking-at-my-door-i-d-rather-feed-and-shelter/)

[Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/)

> [Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man. This is no accident. The inherent difficulties of the subject would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/economics-is-haunted-by-more-fallacies-than-any-other-study-known-to/)

[Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/)

> [Metaphysical fallacies contain the only clues we have to what thinking means to those who engage in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/metaphysical-fallacies-contain-the-only-clues-we-have-to-what/)

[Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/)

> [At least half of the popular fallacies about economics come from assuming that economic activity is a zero-sum game, in which what is gained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/at-least-half-of-the-popular-fallacies-about-economics-come-from/)

[Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/)

> [Some of the most serious fallacies of traditional economics have been due to confusion between optimum and equilibrium conditions; the apparent influence of Dr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-john-richard-hicks/some-of-the-most-serious-fallacies-of-traditional-economics-have-been/)

[Sir John Richard Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-john-richard-hicks/)

## More by Freya Stark

> [I do think we should be provided with a new body about the age of thirty or so when we have learnt to attend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/i-do-think-we-should-be-provided-with-a-new-body-about-the-age-of/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [The world has become too full of many things, an over furnished room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-world-has-become-too-full-of-many-things-an-over-furnished-room/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [From love one can only escape at the price of life itself; and no lessening of sorrow is worth exile from that stream of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/from-love-one-can-only-escape-at-the-price-of-life-itself-and-no/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [The unexpectedness of life, waiting round every corner, catches even wise women unawares (...) To avoid corners altogether is, after all, to refuse to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-unexpectedness-of-life-waiting-round-every-corner-catches-even/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [Words are the only arteries of thought our poor human body possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/words-are-the-only-arteries-of-thought-our-poor-human-body-possesses/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [The past is our treasure. Its works, whether we know them or not, flourish in our lives with whatever strength they had. From it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-past-is-our-treasure-its-works-whether-we-know-them-or-not/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [On the other hand, there is a certain advantage in traveling with someone who has a reputation for shooting rather than being shot: as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/on-the-other-hand-there-is-a-certain-advantage-in-traveling-with/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [If one were given a single window from which to look upon the changing Eastern world, it should face, I think, the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/if-one-were-given-a-single-window-from-which-to-look-upon-the/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [advertisement ... has brought our disregard for truth into the open without even a figleaf to cover it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/advertisement-has-brought-our-disregard-for-truth-into-the-open/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [Who dares to be intellectual in the presence of death?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/who-dares-to-be-intellectual-in-the-presence-of-death/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [The Persian's mind, like his illuminated manuscripts, does not deal in perspective: two thousand years, if he happens to know anything about them, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-persian-s-mind-like-his-illuminated-manuscripts-does-not-deal-in/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [Curiosity is the one thing invincible in Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/curiosity-is-the-one-thing-invincible-in-nature/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [There are, I sometimes think, only two sorts of people in this world - the settled and the nomad - and there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/there-are-i-sometimes-think-only-two-sorts-of-people-in-this-world/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [Nearly all trouble comes from mis-timing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/nearly-all-trouble-comes-from-mis-timing/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

> [“I have no reason to go, except that I have never been, and knowledge is better than ignorance. What better reason could there be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/i-have-no-reason-to-go-except-that-i-have-never-been-and-knowledge-is/)

[Freya Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

[Explore all 131 Freya Stark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/)

## More Belief quotes

> [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/)

[Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/)

> [“MIND &amp; GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/)

[Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/)

> [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/)

[Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/)

> [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/)

[Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/)

> [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/)

[Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/)

> [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/)

[Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/)

> [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/)

[Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/)

> [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/)

[Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/)

> [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/)

[David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/)

> [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/)

[Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/)

> [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/)

[J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/)

> [There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life; it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/there-s-no-greatest-moment-in-the-arts-it-s-a-life-it-s-a-continuity/)

[LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/)

> [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/)

[Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/)

[Browse all 10,268 Belief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Freya Stark"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief-that-things-can-be-kept/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Belief"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief-that-things-can-be-kept/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/freya-stark-3403_belief_the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief_1299590.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction” — Freya Stark",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Freya Stark",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-stark/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The most ominous of fallacies -...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief-that-things-can-be-kept/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-stark/the-most-ominous-of-fallacies-the-belief-that-things-can-be-kept/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
