From Toddy in the comments here:

“Compassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action or it withers” Susan Sontag.

I like it. Feeling something doesn’t mean you actually care about it. Acting on your feelings is proof of genuine concern.

On a similar note (as dodgy as it sounds) I will quote myself, also from the comments section of that post:

“Beliefs that don’t show themselves in action are not real beliefs.”

I am tired of hearing people tell me they feel passionately about XYZ, but never getting off their arse and doing something about it. The reality is that they actually don’t feel passionately about the issue at all. They feel passionately about feeling passionate about something, and somehow in that mileiu feel like they are actually doing something.

And finally my missionary mate John Wilmot who I had dinner with tonight:

“Life is about investment.”

Not a bad way of saying that we only get one life so use it wisely and get a good return on whatever you do.