Life Is Action, Not Contemplation

LIFE IS ACTION, NOT CONTEMPLATION

1. The end of man, said Carlyle long ago, is action and not thought, though it be ofthe noblest. Is it not logical, after all, that what man knows or thinks to be rightshould find expression in what he actually does? If we go on thinking andcontemplating about the rights and wrongs of a particular course of action and donothing practical, we might earn the reputation of being ivory-towerphilosophers, and that would be all. Total absorption with the thought processes,and continual weighing in mind of the pros and cons of a concrete step ormanifestation would bring little gain; it would be very much like a vain search forthe truth in a vacuum. Such a search is characteristic of saints and sages; it wouldill-become the citizens of today who have to fulfill a host of duties andresponsibilities. In modern life, man lives by actions, not by ideas, thoughthoughtless actions often prove dangerous and even disastrous. In the ultimateanalysis, mere contemplation signifies indolence, while activity indicates life andspeed, both of which ensure gains.
In the divine account-books, Mahatma Gandhi warned us, only our actions are noted, not what we have read or what we have spoken or thought of. Man’s actions are the best interpreters of his thoughts; nothing else can be a sure index. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, eminent thinker and also, by common consent, a man of action, knew very well the near-fatal weakness of the Indian people. “Our chief defect”, he said, “is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.” Even though we are quite familiar with the theory of Karma, we are prone to believe that our destiny is already ordained, and written in our “kismet”. There are countless people in this country who just lie low, waiting for something to happen and also waiting for someone to give them food and succor. They believe that since they are also God’s creatures, the Almighty Himself would provide them the various means of subsistence. But they get a rude shock when theystarve day after day and find that they have to fend for themselves, to dowhatever they can and leave the rest to God. There are also those who are soindolent as to leave even the thinking to other people. Such people indulge ineven greater self-deception.
The author of the dictum “Life is action, not contemplation” was no less a person than Goethe himself. He was known to be a great dreamer and thinker, but he also realised that it is action alone that can lead to a nation’s salvation. Apparently, he was thinking of contemplation in the narrow sense and action inthe broad sense. He was reproaching the dreamers and idlers who do nothing andare a burden to society. In India we have the theory of action called the KarmaYoga. This theory, however, does not exclude fruitful contemplation. Itdisapproves of only such contemplation as leads nowhere, and merely promoteslethargy and inaction.
Plato, the famous Greek philosopher, provided an excellent example of a thinkerwho indulged constantly in the game of ideas and ideologies; he put acrosscertain beliefs and theories and he was convinced that ideas move and transform the world. While great philosophers, after prolonged periods of meditation andcontemplation, impart ideas to mankind, those who put such ideas into action areequally great men. It is also well to remember that some ideas may appearfanciful and impracticable initially, but in course of time they lead to marvelousinventions which relieve human misery and distress on a wide scale. There is theclassic example of Newton who gazed at the stars and the sky so often and sopersistently that people thought he was crazy and a drudge. But it was his endlesscontemplation that gave to the world the theory of gravity and other invaluablediscoveries that changed the outlook of mankind and made it more scientificminded.
No less significant have been the sudden flashes of thought in the minds ofgeniuses that have led to concrete manifestation. Archimedes of Syracusediscovered the principle of weight and displacement of water when he was lyingin his bath-tub. So excited was he on finding a solution to the complex problem that he ran into the streets naked and shouting “Eureka” (I have found it!). Similarly, India’s famous scientist Sir C.V. Raman is said to have made his greatest invention when he was having rest on a sea-beach. His mind had beenpreoccupied with a certain process and it was again a sudden thought, a flash oflightning as it were that indicated the solution, much to the benefit of humanity.
Whenever anyone deplores the habit of endless thinking, without translatingmost such thoughts into action, one is reminded of the classic example of Hamletwho was constantly contemplating action but was so engrossed in his thoughtsthat he lost several opportunities of taking concrete action, by way of revenge on the wrong doer, and then he regretted his lethargy. When he did act, it was too late and he actually lost his life. All this made Shakespeare’s Hamlet a great and highly effective tragedy of an aggrieved hero who thought much but did little. It is not contended that thinking is not necessary or a dispensable habit. In fact, thoughtless actions often prove troublesome and may even lead to disaster. If weact hastily and thoughtlessly, we generally have to repent at leisure. So, well-thought-out actions are any day preferable to hasty deeds, but care has to be taken that action is not unduly delayed on the pretence that we must carefully think and consider the desirability of an action before taking it. Contemplation and action are in effect inseparable in a normal and rational human being. Besides, even for simple living there has to be high thinking. In his world-famous play “As You Like It”, Shakespeare wrote:

All the world is a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exists and their entrances; The Acts being seven ages.

We have to also examine another aspect of this question—good acts and bad acts, which are preceded in turn by good thoughts and evil thoughts. If human thoughts are evil in nature and designed to harm or destroy others, the consequent actions will also be wholly undesirable and uncalled for. Melancholy thoughts and general pessimism do not lead to beneficial actions. It was the generally pessimistic and gloomy outlook that prompted such sad thoughts in Hamlet’s mind: “The earth seems to me a sterile promontory....this majestic roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.” In a fit of despair, Hamlet even described Man as “the quintessence of dust”. A jaundiced eye, it is said, can never see the brighter side of things. So people who think constantly of the seamy side will always be sad and gloomy; what is worse, they can never become men of action. Gloomy thoughts shut out all views of joy and happiness in human life and also of all virtues of man. So, at times they prompt men and women to kick the bucket to get rid of everything, in the totally erroneous belief that they can find happiness in the next world. If they had acted, they would have found relief, not only in creation but also in relieving boredom and promoting happiness around them.

As to the question who deserves the greater credit for the progress of the world, the thinkers or the men of action, it all depends upon what the thoughts and actions were. But generally it would be fair to give the credit to both, and in more or less equal measures. It is true that thoughts and contemplation show the way and open up vast possibilities for the welfare of mankind, but unless there is concrete action, there can be no additions to practical knowledge or to human achievement. Both thinkers and actors have their due roles to play; the point is that unless there are concrete actions, thinking processes serve little purpose. So Goethe’s dictum is no more than a half-truth.

In sum, action has to be there in all walks of life but it cannot be divorced from thought; it should rather flow from it as if in a logical sequence. The urge to action and the desire to experience life through action influences the thoughts and activity of all men who make a mark in life. Abstract thinking not followed by concrete manifestation naturally proves barren. So the greatest satisfaction to man comes through a happy and fruitful synthesis of thought and action.