Impatience with actions, patience with results.
Genuine
Yes. In How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “Work As Hard As You Can”, subsection “Impatience with actions, patience with results”.
Checked against Naval Ravikant in conversation with Nivi, “Work As Hard As You Can”, Naval, 6 May 2019, published transcript in the How to Get Rich series, subsection “Impatience with actions, patience with results”, in a full-text transcription.
- Work
- How to Get Rich (without getting lucky), 2018
- Where
- “Work As Hard As You Can”, subsection “Impatience with actions, patience with results”
- Source
- Naval Ravikant in conversation with Nivi, “Work As Hard As You Can”, Naval, 6 May 2019, published transcript in the How to Get Rich series, subsection “Impatience with actions, patience with results”
- Checked
- In a full-text transcription
Researched by AI. Entry updated 28 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
About this quote
The scene
After distinguishing focused work from very long hours and urging people to act while inspired, Ravikant recalls his own tweet. He says to put a necessary action in motion promptly but allow time for markets, products and working relationships to develop. The contrast is between what one can initiate now and outcomes involving other people and complex systems.
What it means
Act promptly on what you can do, while allowing the consequences time to develop.
Often misread
Impatience here does not mean rushing carelessly or demanding instant success. Ravikant asks for full attention to the action and patience with the result.
Topics
Related quotes
- Earn with your mind, not your time.
- Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. (paraphrase) Epictetus
- No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such. Marcus Aurelius
- Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King Jr.
- The just man enjoys the greatest peace of mind, while the unjust is full of the utmost disquietude. Epicurus
Cite it
Naval Ravikant, How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “Work As Hard As You Can”, subsection “Impatience with actions, patience with results”. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/impatience-with-actions-patience-with-results/ (28 October 2026).
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People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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