Take More Initiative Quotes & Sayings

We can also take personal initiative to reduce the depressive, isolating effects of a materialist mindset by avoiding its stimulants -- most obviously, advertising. One method: "Watch less TV. — Anonymous

Leaders and managers appreciate it when employees take the initiative to offer help, build networks, gather new knowledge, and seek feedback. But there's one form of initiative that gets penalized: speaking up with suggestions. In one study across manufacturing, service, retail, and nonprofit settings, the more frequently employees voiced ideas and concerns upward, the less likely they were to receive raises and promotions over a two-year period. And — Adam M. Grant

Just as the process of repealing national alcohol prohibition began with individual states repealing their own prohibition laws, so individual states must now take the initiative with respect to repealing marijuana prohibition laws. — George Soros

Take stands, take risks, take responsibility. — Muriel Siebert

When you become ministers, teach your people how to think independently without relying on you for instructions. Don't be a leader who tries to control people. Do not limit your people, but provide a creative environment for them to take the initiative — Sunday Adelaja

If you are to become more sensitive, you must be willing to take a risk. Take the initiative to find a need and take action. — John C. Maxwell

Victims are also less likely to take initiative because they feel outcomes are not in their hands anyway. An organization filled with victims will generally have low morale, have more risk-averse behavior, and find it difficult to implement change. — John Izzo

You've got to take the initiative to play your game. Confidence makes the difference. — Chris Evert

The nature of encounter operations required of the commanders limitless initiative and constant readiness to take the responsibility for military actions. — Georgy Zhukov

When we are placed in a set of circumstances where we have to take initiative and be creative, some of us find it hard to transition. Those people have been trained not to think but to obey orders. They are slaves to the training, unconsciously pledging allegiance to the average. Mentally they recite from the manual of mediocrity. — T.D. Jakes

The only way I'm going to make any friends is if I take the first step. — Alexandra Robbins

Humanity faces vast environmental challenges in the coming years; yet to suggest that they are unconquerable would be to place too little faith in the ability of people, both as individuals and as groups, to understand the world and respond to it effectively. Great change is coming; I hope and believe that people can take the initiative to enact change on a global scale, rather than becoming the victims of global change. — Bill Tomlinson

There are resources to help and simple steps that parents, preschools, businesses, and communities can take to help our kids succeed, because we're all in this together, and that's what the Too Small to Fail Initiative is all about. — Hillary Clinton

A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. — Oswald Chambers

The individual can take initiatives without anybody's permission. Only individuals can think. Only the individual disregards his fears and commits himself exclusively to reforming the human environment. — R. Buckminster Fuller

Rabbi Moshe Weinberger of Mesivta Beis Shraga related how his father used to say that on Purim, the handle of the gragger (noisemaker) we spin is beneath the gragger itself, while on Chanukah the handle of the dreidel (four-sided top) we spin is on top. Purim, he expounded, represents human initiative, an "awakening from below," while Chanukah represents Divine intervention, an "awakening from above." On Purim, we stir ourselves with drink, joy, a hearty meal and other activities. On Chanukah, we light a candle that we are not allowed to use for any purpose other than to gaze at its flame. We just sit back and look. We let Hashem take over. We remind ourselves that Hashem is running the show. — Yaakov Astor

The accent in the counter attack style of play lays on the defensive team
function, with the emphasis being on the defender's own half of the field
and letting the opponents keep the initiative of the game. This is to take
advantage of the space behind their defense for the buildup and the attack. — Rinus Michels

We are trying to identify employers that might be [hiring illegal aliens] and to take effective action against them. We're trying to make sure that employers that want to cooperate have a system whereby they can verify the employment status of a person that they are seeking to hire. It is part of a comprehensive initiative in which we look both at the border, at the workplace, at criminal aliens, in an attempt to have a comprehensive effort aimed at stopping illegal immigration while at the same time promoting legal immigration according to principles of due process. — Janet Reno

Think of the most successful people that you personally know. Think about how they live life. Do they wait for opportunities to come to them or do they go out and take what they want? I guarantee that they take what they want. I guarantee they take action on ideas. I guarantee they take initiative towards life day after day after day. And you know what? It works, regardless of the situation. — Dave Rogenmoser

I think that the president of Iran has the authority wherever which - where - wherever the national interests of the country are involved and, when it is necessary and expedient and required to speak and talk with others in order to promote the rights of its nation, that the president can take that initiative. — Hassan Rouhani

We are not here in this world to find elegant solutions, pregnant with initiative, or to serve the ways and modes of profitable progress. No, we are here to provide for all those who are weaker and hungrier, more battered and crippled than ourselves. That is our only certain good and great purpose on earth, and if you ask me about those insoluble economic problems that may arise if the top is deprived of their initiative, I would answer 'To hell with them.' The top is greedy and mean and will always find a way to take care of themselves. They always do. — Michael Foot

The average person walks into their doctor's office ready to accept whatever is said and handed to them. Without taking time to research or gain more insight, they accept pills and treatment
without looking into other options.
Our nation overeats. We put toxic fake food into our bodies, but wonder why we're sick. We continue a vicious cycle of consuming the wrong foods and drinks along with a stressful lifestyle, yet
question why cancer is so rampant. Most of our society live in fear and believe they have no control.
My positive message is that we do have control. We need to take back ownership of our bodies and minds. Don't blindly fill prescriptions without first checking into potential side effects, adverse reactions, and long-term damage to your body and mind. Be conscious of what you are consuming. Be informed. Take the initiative to gain more knowledge. Understand your options so you may be in a better position to make an informed choice. — Dana Arcuri

Nowadays there is more dynamism in chess, modern players like to take the initiative. Usually they are poor defenders though. — Boris Spassky

Since we started the Let's Move! initiative, I've been looking for as many ways as possible to help families and kids lead healthier lives. And I've come to realize that if we were going to take just one step to make ourselves and our families healthier, probably the single best thing we could do is to simply drink more water. It's as simple as that. Drink more water. — Michelle Obama

Success comes from taking the initiative and following up ... persisting ... eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life? — Tony Robbins

The choice to love is the choice to take initiative. It is the choice to do or say something for the other person's benefit, something that would help make them a better person, something that would enrich their lives or make life more meaningful for them. — Gary Chapman

The halberd is inferior to the spear on the battlefield. With the spear you can take the initiative, the halberd is defensive. — Miyamoto Musashi

Take some initiative and snap outside of passivity; consistent small actions have impact. — Darren Rowse

No one could become an efficient leader or take the initiative in any great undertaking without belief in himself. — Napoleon Hill

I'm spiked with immense possessiveness as she gushes a thank you. She is probably more Jesse's age than me, the brazen hussy. You can't possibly tell me that she doesn't have a phone she could check. Everyone has a bloody phone these days, and why didn't she ask that middle aged, overweight, balding, sweaty type in front of us? I roll my eyes as I wait for Jesse to take the initiative and lead on. — Jodi Ellen Malpas

Romans 3:10-11 says, "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." Sin affects man in such a way that he will not seek God. He will not come after him. God had to take the initiative. Christ came to seek and to save those who were lost (Luke 19:10). We cannot seek him and couldn't find him if we did - we are lost. — Gregory Brown

In every country the intellectual class is the most influential class. This is the class which can foresee advice and lead. In no country does the mass of the people live the life for intelligent thought and action. It is largely imitative and follows the intellectual class. There is no exaggeration in saying that the entire destination of the country depends upon its intellectual class. If the intellectual class is honest and independent, it can be trusted to take the initiative and give a proper lead when a crisis arises. It is true that the intellect by itself is no virtue. It is only a means and the use of a means depends upon the ends which an intellectual person pursues. An intellectual man can be a good man but he may easily be a rogue. Similarly an intellectual class may be a band of high-souled persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate erring humanity or it may easily be a gang of crooks or a body of advocates of narrow clique from which it draws its support. — B.R. Ambedkar

To act, in its most general sense, means to take an initiative, to begin ... to set something into motion. — Hannah Arendt

The strongest initiative that government can take to ensure Australia is prepared for population ageing, is to maintain a strong economy, and a secure nation. — Julie Bishop

I do not worry very much about the young men and women, including many returned missionaries, who are of such an age that in all likelihood they will be married within a relatively short time. I feel they should not be put under pressure by counsel from Church leaders to rush into it. But neither do I believe that they should dally along in a fruitless, frustrating, and frivolous dating game that only raises hopes and brings disappointment and in some cases heartache.

The young men should take the initiative in this matter. It goes without saying that they should be encouraged to live worthy of the companionship of a wonderful partner. They should be taught to put aside any thought of selfish superiority and recognize and follow the teaching of the Church that the husband and wife walk side by side with neither one ahead or behind. — Gordon B. Hinckley

You don't have to be very brilliant. You don't have to have such a wonderful education. You can be an outstanding success if you will only take what little you have, whether it's little or much, and start using it, putting it into operation, doing something about it, and doing something with it. And, of course, that calls for initiative. — Napoleon Hill

To have the external pressure of a job removed is very astonishing. Your own will is now your only motor and it has no horse-power. Sometimes I think that perhaps the most competent business men, and lawyers and doctors, who must be at the office at nine o'clock every morning, do not realize this and take more credit for initiative and industry than they deserve. And it is why all the bright women of the world, who if more were expected of them, might do important work, but who instead have a chronic feeling of ineffectiveness and sloth. — Brenda Ueland

If you can defend, counter-attack and take the initiative then you become a more dangerous player. — Jo Durie

There is nothing natural, inevitable, or necessary about the labyrinth of fear. We can liberate ourselves. There are better ways to live. Someone has to take the initiative to love and trust her fellow living creature and set us all free. — Brendan Myers

Buddhism holds that everything is in constant flux. Thus the question is whether we are to accept change passively and be swept away by it or whether we are to take the lead and create positive changes on our own initiative. While conservatism and self-protection might be likened to winter, night, and death, the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize ideals evokes images of spring, morning, and birth. — Daisaku Ikeda

So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. — Jon Krakauer

This is so fucking Human of you. Lie back and let the galaxy do whatever it wants, because you're too guilty about how badly you fucked up your own species to ever take initiative. — Becky Chambers

Why doesn't he say something to her?
But I knew why. Because there's the creeping fear that these moments don't actually exist outside your own head. No eyes meet across a crowded room, no two people thing precisely the same thing, and if only one person actually has that moment, is it even really a moment at all?
We know this, so we say nothing. We avert our eyes, or pretend to be looking for change, we hope the other person will take the initiative, because we don't want to risk losing this feeling of excitement and possibilities and lust. It's too perfect. That little second of hope is worth something, possibly for ever, as we lie on out deathbeds, surrounded by our children, and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren, and we can't help but quickly give on last selfish, dying thought to what could have happened if we'd actually said hello to that girl in the Uggs selling CDs outside Nando's seventy-four years earlier. — Danny Wallace

Take action and be brave Theodor for it is fear and inaction that kills. — Robert Radcliffe

Take the life issue. This issue requires a president and an administration leading our nation to understand the importance of life. This whole faith-based initiative really ties into a larger cultural issue that we're working on. It begins to affect the life issue, as well as the human dignity issue, because when you're talking about welcoming people of faith to help people who are disadvantaged and are unable to defend themselves, the logical step is also those babies. — George W. Bush

A large part of the father's life had been spent waiting. He could not force his younger son to come home or his older son to let go of his resentments. Only they themselves could take the initiative to return. — Henri J.M. Nouwen

When you take the free will out of education, that turns it into schooling. — John Taylor Gatto

When life does not go our way or we inadvertently make a mistake, it is so easy to make excuses, place blame on others, or argue that circumstances were against us. But we only progress in life to the extent that we take responsibility for our actions and attitudes, and put forth the initiative necessary to create our own circumstances. — Stephen Covey

Instead of antiquated notions of physical daring, courage is much more about making small choices to take initiative even when we are experiencing anxiety and facing risk. — Robert Biswas-Diener

Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances and courageous enough to take whatever initiative is necessary to creatively work his or her through or around these challenges, and I'll show you supreme power of choice. — Stephen R. Covey

You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference. — Chris Evert

One has to take initiative in life to achieve what he or she wants. — Donald Johanson

Whatever lessons we take from this dreadful attack (on the World Trade Center and Pentagon), we should never forget that it was, after all, a faith based initiative. — Wendy Kaminer

The work of a believer is responsive, not initiative. We respond to God's love because we must. Like Peter, when called to do the impossible, we do not look to our limitations, but we ponder this: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Owen says this: "Mortification of any sin must be by a supply of grace. Of ourselves, we cannot do it."31 The gospel does not take us halfway there. God takes us all the way home. But if what you seek is grace apart from Christ's blood, you will never get home. — Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting, because all of those things are part of aggression. She will not take the initiative; she simply waits - and she can wait infinitely. — Rajneesh

As soon as I decided I'd have to dig down still deeper to uncover the root of my listless withdrawal from life, I became aware of some interference from the past distracting and confusing my thoughts, causing me a sensation that was at the same time oppressive, expectant and empty. In these somewhat contradictory feelings, I came to recognize my childish sense of having run down like a clock that needed someone to wind it before it could go again; and saw that I was now no less helpless than in those far-off days when I waited for somebody to take me by the hand and tell me what to do. On my own initiative I could do nothing, take no responsibility, make no decisions only watch my existence unroll. — Anna Kavan

I've found that often the quality you see in successful people is knowing when to take the initiative, and being quick about it. I've never sat around, waiting for someone to tell me to take charge. I just do it. — R.K. Lilley

Nyx's quasar eyes burned. "Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, any more than I would let Akhlys kill you. Such fine prizes, I will kill myself!"
Annabeth didn't feel particularly witty or courageous, but her instincts told her to take the initiative, or this would be a very short conversation.
"Oh, don't kill yourself!" she cried. "We're not that scary."
The goddess lowered her whip. "What? No, I didn't mean - "
"Well, I hope not!" Annabeth looked at Percy and forced a laugh. "We wouldn't want to scare her, would we?"
"Ha, ha," Percy said weakly. "No, we wouldn't. — Rick Riordan