“A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he is not a man of action. It is as if a tennis player before returning the ball stopped to think about his views of the physical and mental advantages of tennis. You must act as you breathe.” – Georges Clemenceau
Is it true that acting quickly and instinctively is the best response to a crisis? Or are there times when an urgent situation requires a more careful consideration and a slower response?
Differentiating circumstances determine the best course of action to take whether it is a carefully constructed and slower response or a quick instinctive reaction to a crisis; it all depends on the level of urgency and time and resources available. Literature and history have shown how different responses may have a positive or negative outcome. Events of the past illustrate what type of response is the best for certain situations such as the carrying out cardiopulmonary resuscitation or the planned escape of Romeo and Juliet in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare or the response to America’s division in 1860 over the possession of African American slaves resulting in the American Civil War of 1861-1865.
Situations which may determine life or death with a very short time span available always need a quick, urgent and instinctive response. A response like one to perform CPR on a stranger suffering a cardiac arrest, this response is initiated by the natural human instinct to protect and save another’s life. An urgent situation such as this one has only one response method and that is one of action as acclaimed by Georges Clemenceau as every second wasted adds to the possibility of death of the patient.
Many situations especially those involving relationships need an objectively assessed response planned, a response with an absence of subjective emotion. The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare exemplifies this notion. The two lovers act passionately