It's so hard to look at someone doing a triple cork when you're 7 years old, and them saying, 'I want to go do that.' It's not really relatable at all. So, if I can somehow make it so kids want to get into snowboarding, that's special.
A novel must show how the world truly is. Somehow, reveals the true source of our actions.
Not everybody's actions are based on ideas. Some people's actions are based on profit.
Man wants to live, but it is useless to hope that this desire will dictate all his actions.
It seems the only way to induce action in this country is through the creation of fear and hysteria.
Men will always be powerfully influenced in their Opinions and Actions by what appears to be their particular Interest.
When nothing hampers action, the soul has fewer reasons for action.
There are two principles of established acceptance in morals; first, that self-interest is the mainspring of all of our actions, and secondly, that utility is the test of their value.
Action based on reason, action therefore which is only to be understood by reason, knows only one end, the greatest pleasure of the acting individual.
Mere negation, mere Epicurean infidelity, as Lord Bacon most justly observes, has never disturbed the peace of the world. It furnishes no motive for action; it inspires no enthusiasm; it has no missionaries, no crusades, no martyrs.
Most action is based on redemption and revenge, and that's a formula. Moby Dick was formula. It's how you get to the conclusion that makes it interesting.
Man is not free to refuse to do the thing which gives him more pleasure than any other conceivable action.
By annihilating the desires, you annihilate the mind. Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to act.
The gap between vision and current reality is also a source of energy. If there were no gap, there would be no need for any action to move towards the vision. We call this gap creative tension.
