Great Quotes for Kids about Taking Action and Being Proactive

Taking action and being proactive are two of the most important ingredients to success in life.  People who are action focused get better jobs, better grades, have more impact in the world and have better relationships.

When you read the quotes below from many people who helped change the world for good, you can see that taking action was part of their success

here are millions of ways you take positive action today.  Here are just a few:

• Help a schoolmate who is being bullied
• Do something helpful for your parents without them asking
• Write a nice letter to someone your admire
• Thank a veteran
• Do an extra credit assignment
• Volunteer to help a good cause

The good news is that even small actions can have a huge impact on your life and the world.  So don’t wait!  Start today and practice taking positive actions everyday.  Instead of just thinking about doing the right thing, do the right thing.  Keep doing good things and soon they will become habits.

Now, here are some great quotes about the importance of taking action and being proactive:

• “A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.” – Henrik Ibsen
• “Action is the foundational key for all success.” – Pablo Picasso
• “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa
• “Knowing is not enough.  We must apply.  Willing is not enough.  We must do.” – Bruce Lee
• “Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more than they do” – Elbert Hubbard
• “Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.” – Cathy Hopkins
• “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
• “The fact is that in order to do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.” – Sydney Smith
• “People who end up with the good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems, not problems themselves, who seize the initiative to do whatever is necessary to get the job done.” – Stephen R. Covey
• “It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses.” – George Eliot
• Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” – William Hutchison Murray
• “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more than they do” – Elbert Hubbard
• “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama
• “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
• “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” – C.G. Jung
• “Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.” – Mitch Albom
• “Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” – William James
• “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.,
• “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” – Joseph Campbell
• “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
• “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
•  “Do what matters, now.” – Leo Babauta
• “Forever is composed of nows.” – Emily Dickinson
• “Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
• “It is easy to sit up and take notice.  What is difficult is getting up and taking action.” – Honore de Balzac
• “Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.” – Edith Wharton
• “So early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.” – Malcolm X
• “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” – Khalil Gibran
• “Action expresses priorities.” – Mahatma Ghandi
• “If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize, who you are and what you want to become in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape your journey by default. Your silence makes you reactive vs. proactive.” – Shannon L. Alder
• “I say if it’s going to be done, let’s do it. Let’s not put it in the hands of fate. Let’s not put it in the hands of someone who doesn’t know me. I know me best. Then take a breath and go ahead.” – Anita Baker

Additional Resources:

• Click here for other great quotes for kids

Topics for Discussion:

• What are your 3 favorite quotes above?  Why?
• Do you disagree with any of the quotes?  Why?
• Can you remember a story that you have read where the characters benefited from taking action?  Or how about a story where a character was lazy and reactive?Talk about a time when you were proactive?  What was the result?  How did you feel afterward?
• Talk about a person you know that always takes action and initiative.  Is there anything you can learn from them?

Take Action:

• Choose one thing in your life where you are not proactive and make a commitment to change this.  Start doing it and see how it makes you feel.
• Take action with something that matters to you.  Find a cause that you care about, such as animals, and find something you can do to help.  Click here for the IMK in Action guide “How Kids Can Help Animals”.

Teacher Features:

• Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for elementary school students.
• Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for middle school students.