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A life which does not go into action is a failure.
Arnold J. Toynbee A Study of History · 1934-1961

Quotes

“Who will let you? That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”

Ayn Rand · The Fountainhead, 1943 · Primary source

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

Alan Kay · Learning vs. Teaching with Educational Technologies, 1983 · Primary source

“They rushed into it with their eyes open because they could not resist the bait.”

Arnold J. Toynbee · The Western Question in Greece and Turkey, 1922 · Primary source

“It is better to be making the news than taking it; to be an actor rather than a critic.”

Winston Churchill · The Story of the Malakand Field Force, 1898 · Primary source

“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · The American Scholar, 1837 · Primary source

“All successful men have agreed in one thing—they were causationists.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Power, 1860 · Primary source

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life and the procedure. The process is its own reward.”

Amelia Earhart · No reliable source

“Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.”

Helen Keller · No reliable source

Works

John Carmack · 2026
Message on X (Agency Over Intelligence)

A speculation on how AI assistance could shift the relative importance of intelligence, agency, trust, and decision-making in human achievement.

Read summary·Explore 1 quotes

Related Tags

Self-reliance 49 Decision-making 35 Purpose 31 Resilience 30 Independence 29 Responsibility 27 Action 23 Initiative 21 Persistence 19 Commitment 17 Opportunity 15 Fear 12 Failure 12 Technological change 12 Criticism 10 Artificial intelligence 9 Success 7 Practical judgement 6 Self-interest 4 Defiance 4 Present moment 4 Tenacity 3 Temptation 3 Intelligence 3 Self-determination 2 Cause and effect 2 Creation 2 Political manipulation 1 Great-power rivalry 1 Participation 1 Determinism 1 Self-pity 1 Constructive action 1 Future-making 1 Human-AI collaboration 1