Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
Meaning
In his essay on the machine-minded age, Carlyle warned against paralysis by speculation about distant futures. The real task is the next obvious step. When a big goal feels foggy, list the nearest concrete action, such as sending one email or writing one page, and do that first.
Source: Signs of the Times (1829)
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