--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do the thing that's less passive. Do the…" description: "\"Do the thing that's less passive. Do the active thing. There's more of the human in that.\" — Nuala O'Faolain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/395/nuala-o-faolain-22668_active_do-the-thing-that-s-less-passive-do-the_2594914.jpg" --- # Do the thing that's less passive. Do the active thing… ![“Do the thing that's less passive. Do the active thing. There's more of the human in that.” quote by Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/395/nuala-o-faolain-22668_active_do-the-thing-that-s-less-passive-do-the_2594914.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/395/nuala-o-faolain-22668_active_do-the-thing-that-s-less-passive-do-the_2594914.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/395/nuala-o-faolain-22668_active_do-the-thing-that-s-less-passive-do-the_2594914.jpg) > “Do the thing that's less passive. Do the active thing. There's more of the human in that.” [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages active engagement over passive behavior, emphasizing humanity in action. **In simple terms:** Act rather than stay passive. Key Takeaway Choose active over passive. Themes self‑development agency human nature Mood motivational reflective Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - team projects - leadership decisions Key Concepts psychology behavioral choice Questions to Reflect On - What passive habits limit you? - How can you become more active? A Different Perspective Passive habits can mask underlying fear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Active](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active/) [Active Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active-thing-1541524/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Passive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passive/) [Passive Active](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passive-active-1893103/) [Thing Passive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-passive-1825162/) ## Related quotes > [Often with bigotry it's passive not active.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-act/often-with-bigotry-it-s-passive-not-active/) [Courtney Act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-act/) > [The most active thing about me is my imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garfield/the-most-active-thing-about-me-is-my-imagination/) [Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garfield/) > [To make oneself an object, to make oneself passive, is a very different thing from being a passive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/to-make-oneself-an-object-to-make-oneself-passive-is-a-very-different/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [There's no such thing as a passive audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-passive-audience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Word of God is not Passive but Active.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moroaswi-tumiso-victor/the-word-of-god-is-not-passive-but-active/) [Moroaswi Tumiso Victor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moroaswi-tumiso-victor/) > [Patience is not passive but active phase in which one do everything to keep the situation in control & paves way for solution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/patience-is-not-passive-but-active-phase-in-which-one-do-everything/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [I had learned that science is a rewarding, active process of discovery, not the passive absorption of what others had discovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-e-varmus/i-had-learned-that-science-is-a-rewarding-active-process-of-discovery/) [Harold E. Varmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-e-varmus/) > [I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-the-choice-of-being-constantly-active-and-happy-or-2/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-the-choice-of-being-constantly-active-and-happy-or/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Reading not only enlarges and challenges the mind; it also engages and exercises the brain. Today's youth who sits mesmerized by a television screen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/reading-not-only-enlarges-and-challenges-the-mind-it-also-engages-and/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [When you have a diagnosis of cancer, or any serious illness, your choices are basically to be passive and kind of accept whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamilton-jordan/when-you-have-a-diagnosis-of-cancer-or-any-serious-illness-your/) [Hamilton Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamilton-jordan/) > [Experience is not worth the getting. It's not a thing that happens pleasantly to a passive you--it's a wall that an active you runs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/experience-is-not-worth-the-getting-it-s-not-a-thing-that-happens/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [In a few years, men will be able to communicate more effectively through a machine than face to face. That is a rather startling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-r-licklider/in-a-few-years-men-will-be-able-to-communicate-more-effectively/) [J. C. R. Licklider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-r-licklider/) > [Active Evil is better than Passive Good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/active-evil-is-better-than-passive-good/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) ## More by Nuala O'Faolain > [“...time is the third party to every relationship.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/time-is-the-third-party-to-every-relationship/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [Novels are completed when they are finished, but the memoir changes its own conclusion by virtue of being written... I was not at all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/novels-are-completed-when-they-are-finished-but-the-memoir-changes/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [Lovers are allowed to be as cruel as anything to the one who dissappoints them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/lovers-are-allowed-to-be-as-cruel-as-anything-to-the-one-who/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [If there were nothing else, reading would--obviously--be worth living for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/if-there-were-nothing-else-reading-would-obviously-be-worth-living-for/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“...Though it seemed trivial, now, to describe a place as if what is was, was what I could see of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/though-it-seemed-trivial-now-to-describe-a-place-as-if-what-is-was/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [..though silence must add intensity to your intimate moments, it must also shrivel your soul to lie beside someone who doesn't talk to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/though-silence-must-add-intensity-to-your-intimate-moments-it-must/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“States have no goodness. They suppress these villains here and promote those villains there, with no aim but self-aggrandizement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/states-have-no-goodness-they-suppress-these-villains-here-and-promote/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“...when I was young, I learned to feel for the harshness under every soft appearance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/when-i-was-young-i-learned-to-feel-for-the-harshness-under-every-soft/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“I tried not to think about it. But every so often it would burst out of me - why did he do something so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/i-tried-not-to-think-about-it-but-every-so-often-it-would-burst-out/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [My life burned inside me. Even such as it was, it was the only record of me, and it was my only creation, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/my-life-burned-inside-me-even-such-as-it-was-it-was-the-only-record/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [I did believe, from my experience of life and of looking at the world, that men hated women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/i-did-believe-from-my-experience-of-life-and-of-looking-at-the-world/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“There was nothing between the man and me - - nothing, not even liking. But because of the memory of some wholeness, or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/there-was-nothing-between-the-man-and-me-nothing-not-even-liking-but/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“What makes a woman into a doormat? What makes her see some quite ordinary other person as a looming Goliath? And are not these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/what-makes-a-woman-into-a-doormat-what-makes-her-see-some-quite/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“They're fathers second, Jimmy said. They're men first.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/they-re-fathers-second-jimmy-said-they-re-men-first/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) > [“But you know, there's one simple thing I see absolutely clearly, now that I am so very old. I looked at her. The Albert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuala-o-faolain/but-you-know-there-s-one-simple-thing-i-see-absolutely-clearly-now/) [Nuala O'Faolain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) [Explore all 26 Nuala O'Faolain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuala-o-faolain/) ## More Active quotes > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [We in US need active intelligence: people being on the streets, people being able to stop and ask questions of individuals that they suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/we-in-us-need-active-intelligence-people-being-on-the-streets-people/) [Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/) [Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/) > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [The answer to any challenge you are having has nothing to do with God's willingness to help. It has to do with your acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/the-answer-to-any-challenge-you-are-having-has-nothing-to-do-with-god/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [You need to enjoy yourself and just get into the routine of keeping fit and enjoying being active. That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/) [Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/) [Browse all 2,212 Active quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Do the thing that's less passive. Do the active thing. 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