First Things First

Ignorance is no excuse. 

This adage usually refers to wrong action, like running a red light because you didn’t know that when you’ve crossed the line, you’ve crossed the line. But ignorance is also no excuse for a lack of action.

If you have a wise quotation to share but can’t think of a creative, memorable way to share it, that doesn’t matter. Just share the quotation. After all, any creative frame you can provide is not that important. It’s the wisdom that matters. So here it is:

Do not say: “I do not know what is right; therefore I am not to blame when I fail to do it.” For if you did all the good about which you do know, what you should do next would then become clear to you, as if you were passing through a house from one room to another. It is not helpful to know what comes later before you have done what comes first…

—Mark the Ascetic

Right action is always the goal. Don’t worry that you don’t know everything. You never will. Just do the good you know to do because humble action will clarify the next step for you.

What we do is more important than what we know.