"It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do"
About this Quote
Action often feels straightforward once a direction is set. Muscles move, tasks unfold, and momentum carries us along. The harder work lies earlier, in the moment of choosing. Selecting a course means confronting uncertainty, weighing competing goods, and accepting the cost of forsaken alternatives. It asks for a kind of moral and psychological stamina: to clarify values, tolerate ambiguity, and commit without a guarantee of success.
Elbert Hubbard, the entrepreneur and essayist associated with the Arts and Crafts-inspired Roycroft community, understood both craft and commerce. He admired practical execution, as seen in his famous essay A Message to Garcia, which praises initiative and diligence. Yet he also knew that craftsmanship begins with design, and leadership begins with judgment. Tools and effort are abundant; wisdom about where to apply them is scarce. In an industrial age brimming with new capacities, the bottleneck shifts from ability to discernment.
Deciding is heavy because it carries responsibility. A leader choosing a strategy, an artist choosing a subject, an entrepreneur choosing a market, or an individual choosing a life path must live with the consequences. Choice involves the courage to exclude, to disappoint certain possibilities so that another possibility can bloom. It requires self-knowledge to resist distractions and the seduction of busyness, which can masquerade as progress. Doing many things is not the same as doing the right thing.
There is also a paradox of effort: once a decision is truly owned, action becomes simpler, almost lighter. Energy concentrates. Trade-offs are accepted instead of endlessly re-litigated. Hubbard points to that fulcrum where strength matters most. Cultivating it means building the habits that support clear choice—reflection, prioritization, and the willingness to stand by a selected course. The reward is not merely efficiency but coherence: a life where actions serve a chosen aim rather than scatter in every available direction.
Elbert Hubbard, the entrepreneur and essayist associated with the Arts and Crafts-inspired Roycroft community, understood both craft and commerce. He admired practical execution, as seen in his famous essay A Message to Garcia, which praises initiative and diligence. Yet he also knew that craftsmanship begins with design, and leadership begins with judgment. Tools and effort are abundant; wisdom about where to apply them is scarce. In an industrial age brimming with new capacities, the bottleneck shifts from ability to discernment.
Deciding is heavy because it carries responsibility. A leader choosing a strategy, an artist choosing a subject, an entrepreneur choosing a market, or an individual choosing a life path must live with the consequences. Choice involves the courage to exclude, to disappoint certain possibilities so that another possibility can bloom. It requires self-knowledge to resist distractions and the seduction of busyness, which can masquerade as progress. Doing many things is not the same as doing the right thing.
There is also a paradox of effort: once a decision is truly owned, action becomes simpler, almost lighter. Energy concentrates. Trade-offs are accepted instead of endlessly re-litigated. Hubbard points to that fulcrum where strength matters most. Cultivating it means building the habits that support clear choice—reflection, prioritization, and the willingness to stand by a selected course. The reward is not merely efficiency but coherence: a life where actions serve a chosen aim rather than scatter in every available direction.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
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