Famous Decisions Quotes in English

Here’s a list of Famous Decision Quotes with their meanings and examples to show how they apply to life:


1. "It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." – Tony Robbins

  • Meaning: The choices you make, especially during critical moments, determine the course of your future.

  • Example: A person choosing to pursue higher education despite financial difficulties sets a path toward a brighter career, showing how that one decision impacts their long-term success.


2. "Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • Meaning: When you fully commit to a decision, opportunities, and circumstances align to support that decision.

  • Example: Someone decides to start their own business. After committing to this choice, they start meeting people who offer support, and unexpected resources appear, helping them achieve their goal.


3. "Indecision is often worse than wrong action." – Henry Ford

  • Meaning: Taking no action out of fear of making the wrong choice can be more damaging than making a mistake. It’s better to decide and learn from errors than to stay stuck.

  • Example: A manager hesitates to fire an underperforming employee, causing the team to suffer from low productivity. If the manager had made the decision sooner, the team could have improved faster.


4. "The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn." – David Russell

  • Meaning: Life is full of choices, and knowing which opportunities to pursue and which to leave behind is key to personal growth and success.

  • Example: A person must decide between staying in a toxic relationship or moving on. Choosing to “burn” that bridge may lead to personal growth and healthier relationships in the future.


5. "When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice." – William James

  • Meaning: Not making a decision is still a decision, often with its own consequences.

  • Example: A student is unsure whether to apply for a scholarship and procrastinates until the deadline passes. By not deciding, they lose the opportunity, showing that indecision also shapes outcomes.


6. "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." – Theodore Roosevelt

  • Meaning: It’s better to make a decision, whether right or wrong, than to remain inactive. Taking action allows you to move forward and make adjustments if needed.

  • Example: During a crisis, a CEO must quickly decide how to handle the situation. Even if the decision isn’t perfect, it’s better to act and correct the course later than to do nothing and let the crisis worsen.


7. "We all make choices, but in the end, our choices make us." – Andrew Ryan (from Bioshock)

  • Meaning: The decisions you make throughout your life shape your identity, values, and future.

  • Example: A person who chooses to be kind and compassionate builds a reputation of being a caring individual, while someone who consistently chooses selfishness may find themselves alone in the end.


8. "Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." – Keri Russell

  • Meaning: Even seemingly minor decisions can have a significant impact on the direction of your life.

  • Example: Deciding to take a different route to work one day could lead someone to meet a future business partner or friend, altering the course of their life.


9. "The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision." – Maimonides

  • Meaning: It's better to take risks and make a decision, even if it's wrong, than to remain paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice.

  • Example: A young entrepreneur faces the choice of launching their product or waiting for more market research. Choosing to launch, despite potential risks, allows them to learn from their mistakes and improve, while indecision would have led to missed opportunities.


10. "Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision." – Tony Robbins

  • Meaning: A committed decision has the power to instantly change the course of your life by setting you on a new path.

  • Example: A person decides to quit their corporate job to pursue their passion for art. The moment they commit to this decision, their life begins to change as they take action to build a creative career.


11. "The more decisions that you are forced to make alone, the more you are aware of your freedom to choose." – Thornton Wilder

  • Meaning: Making decisions independently makes you more aware of the control and freedom you have over your own life.

  • Example: A young adult moving out of their parents' home starts to make everyday decisions—managing finances, cooking meals, and organizing their time—realizing how much autonomy they truly have.


12. "Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions." – Mark Twain

  • Meaning: Mistakes and failures are valuable because they teach you how to make better choices in the future.

  • Example: A person invests in a risky stock and loses money. The loss teaches them important lessons about market research and risk management, leading them to make more informed investments later on.


These quotes emphasize the importance of decisions in shaping our lives and futures. Whether they involve small daily choices or life-altering moments, the act of deciding plays a critical role in personal growth, success, and self-awareness.

We must give lengthy deliberation to what has to be decided once and for all.

- Publilius Syrus Quotes

The more Alternatives, the more difficult the choice.

- Decisions Quotes by Abbe' D'Allanival

If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.

- Robert Frutz Quotes

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.

- Decisions Quotes by Ben Stein

I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.

- Decisions Quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt

The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.

- Decisions Quotes by George Eliot

It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

- J. K Rowling Quotes

The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.

- John Dewey Quote

An executive is a person who always decides; sometimes he decides correctly, but he always decides.

- Quotes by John H. Patterson

A weak man has doubts before a decision, a strong man has them afterwards.

- Karl Kraus Quotes

When it is not necessary to make a decision, it is necessary not to make a decision.

- Lord Falkland Quotes

Give no decision till both sides thou'st heard.

- Phocylides Quotes

We must give lengthy deliberation to what has to be decided once and for all.

- Publilius Syrus Quotes