Dilatory Quotes & Sayings

Lose the day loitering, 'twill be the same story
To-morrow, and the next more dilatory,
For indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute!
What you can do, or think you can, begin it!
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated;
Begin it, and the work will be completed. — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The law of England is the greatest grievance of the nation, very expensive and dilatory. — Gilbert Burnet

Feeble and timid minds ... consider the use of dilatory and ambiguous measures as the most admirable efforts of consummate prudence. — Edward Gibbon

I think Andrew Stanton is such an amazing, creative mind. — Lynn Collins

The patience of the American public with dilatory diplomatic delays will be very limited. — Tom Lantos

These cardinals trifle with me; I abhor; This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome. — William Shakespeare

Diligence increaseth the fruit of toil. A dilatory man wrestles with losses. — Hesiod

The war for our Union, with all the constitutional issues which it settled, and all the military lessons which it gathered in, has throughout its dilatory length but one meaning in the eyes of history. It freed the country from the social plague which until then had made political development impossible in the United States. More and more, as the years pass, does the meaning stand forth as the sole meaning. — William James

From some dilatory reading in the early 1960s, I knew enough about viruses and their association with tumors in animals to understand that they might provide a relatively simple entry into a problem as complex as cancer. — Harold E. Varmus

Some people are very earnest after the things of God, and he who seeks finds, and the more he seeks in the right direction the more he finds. He that is dilatory in searching after the things of God, obtains but little; he that is diligent obtains much. All may receive it, but they must obtain it in the way that God has appointed, all receiving their measure according to their diligence and desire; but the spirit is the same. — Charles W. Penrose

The other night a mugger took off his mask and made me wear it. — Rodney Dangerfield

A sluggish, dawdling, and dilatory man may have spasms of activity, but he never acts continuously and consecutively with energetic quickness. — George Stillman Hillard

Lose this day loitering 'Twill be the same old story, Tomorrow and the next, Even more dilatory. Whatever you would do, Or dream of doing, begin it! Boldness has power, genius, and magic in it. Begin it now. — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

What a day-to-day affair life is. — Jules Laforgue

In the year of our Lord 2010, the voters of the United States elected the worst Congress in the history of the Republic. There have been Congresses more dilatory. There have been Congresses more irresponsible, though not many of them. — Charlie Pierce

I was a very earnest, hard working boy at school, but my parents were distressed because I was always bottom of the class. But I wasn't dilatory, I worked like crazy. — Ridley Scott

Sometimes, Chase ... it's the emotional wounds that hurt the most." I pushed back the anger and sighed. "I'd rather he beat me. Cuts heal, bruises fade - but broken hearts? They carry scars for a lifetime. — Rachel Van Dyken

The Saint - for I was convinced he was a Saint, indeed, whatever the rest of us might have been - now had a fistful of dangling mind-fire threads. "She is broken, this one, in her mind and heart," he said, carefully scooping up the blazing filaments and packing them back into Jannoula. "You must learn to fill yourself with yourself, Blessed."
"D-don't break her any further," I pleaded, feeling responsible.
He gave me a sidelong look, and for a moment I thought he was angry. But he said, "Would you break a mirror, Seraphina, because you fear to look into it? — Rachel Hartman

The only thing worse than fighting a giant scorpion was fighting a giant scorpion who was trying to protect her young. — Suzanne Collins

I don't want to leave my kids an inheritance, I want to leave them a legacy — Daymond John

American law firms annually hire scores of brilliant lawyers. While the public perceives attorneys as engaging in dilatory tactics, presenting false evidence, making frivolous arguments to the court, and overcharging clients, the vast majority of attorneys are honest and hardworking, the type of person most people would enjoy as a neighbor. — Kilroy J. Oldster

Maximus was my model for self-control, fixity of purpose, and cheerfulness under ill-health or other misfortunes. His character was an admirable combination of dignity and charm, and all the duties of his station were performed quietly and without fuss. He gave everyone the conviction that he spoke as he believed, and acted as he judged right. Bewilderment or timidity were unknown to him; he was never hasty, never dilatory; nothing found him at a loss. He indulged neither in despondency nor forced gaiety, nor had anger or jealousy any power over him. Kindliness, sympathy, and sincerity all contributed to give the impression of a rectitude that was innate rather than inculcated. Nobody was ever made by him to feel inferior, yet none could have presumed to challenge his pre-eminence. He was also the possessor of an agreeable sense of humour. — Marcus Aurelius