Prompt: A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he is not a man of action. It is as if a tennis player before returning the ball stopped to think about his views of the physical and mental advantages of tennis. You must act as you breathe.”  –Georges Clemenceau

Topic: Is it true that acting quickly and instinctively is the best response to a crisis? Or are there times when an urgent situation requires a more careful consideration and a slower response?

What are you supposed to do in a crisis situation? Should you just act without thinking about it, or should you take your time to think and consider the pros and cons before you act? In my opinion, there’s a time and place for both. In this essay, I will explain the benefits and potential dangers of each method of acting on a crisis.

My answer to the question “Is it true that acting quickly and instinctively is the best way to respond to a crisis?” is, it depends. I believe that most of the time, it is better to think about your actions before you take them. there are some exceptions, though. For example, if the police are responding to an emergency, they can’t normally stop to think before they take action. They have to live in the moment and respond quickly. This is because if they take too long the emergency may get worse. One of the pros to acting instinctively is that it doesn’t take much time (or any time at all, really). It’s a first response, and in some cases, that’s what’s needed.

The second part of the topic question I was given is “are there times when an urgent situation requires a more careful consideration and a slower response?” and my answer is absolutely. I believe that there are definitely situations that require you to stop and think first. If you act without thinking it through, there’s a good chance that your emotions are playing a big role in your response. This is normally not a good thing in a situation like a crisis because you could end up doing the wrong thing and making things even worse. When something occurs that triggers an emotional response, you should almost always pause and think before you do anything else. Otherwise, your emotions get in the way.

As far as Georges Clemenceau’s quote goes, I don’t know if I really agree with it. It says: “A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he is not a man of action. It is as if a tennis player before returning the ball stopped to think about his views of the physical and mental advantages of tennis. You must act as you breathe.” I agree with some parts, but not others. He says that someone who waits to take action isn’t a man of action, and I don’t think that’s true. He will still take action, just not as quickly.

He backs up what he says with an example of the sport, tennis. Like I said before, there are times when you need to pause and think before you respond, and there are also times when you don’t have to or shouldn’t stop to think. As we can probably all agree on, tennis is a time where you shouldn’t have to think about your actions before you take them. This example does prove his point, but it’s also not a very fair example.

To conclude this paper, my final answer to the question “Is it true that acting quickly and instinctively is the best response to a crisis? Or are there times when an urgent situation requires a more careful consideration and a slower response?” is that I believe it is normally better to carefully decide how you will respond to a crises. Like I explained multiple times in this essay, there is a time and a place for acting quickly, and I do believe that sometimes reacting without thought is the way to go. I just depends on the crisis and what’s at risk.

I hope you enjoyed my essay. If you disagree with my opinion, please comment so I can know your opinion. Thank you for reading and have a blessed day or night!