[cdn2wheeler]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Your beliefs determine your actions.

Or inaction. True Believers, who may believe that no action is required to obtain a result, might refrain from taking action. And the random nature of the universe means that occasionally they'll get what they desire even though they did nothing. Even a blind squirrel can find his nuts once in a while. That's what I meant when I wrote about a false cause-and-effect correlation.

Originally Posted by Pegasus

Hi, cdn! Your absence from the forums hasn't gone unnoticed!

Thanks... I think.

Originally Posted by Pegasus

Even here you use the word "desires." Without the initial thought or intention, we are not motivated to act.

Precisely Ruskin's point. Desires are all fine and good, but if they don't lead to action, then they're nothing more than empty wishes. If they create motivation to act, then something might happen as a result of the actions. But if they don't lead to action, then they are of little value.

Originally Posted by Pegasus

Most of the time. What about when we do all the right things and nothing happens? Or when we get what we really want without having put any considerable action into it?

You actually answered it in your post when you wrote, "Most of the time."

Sometimes we do everything right and the result isn't what we anticipated. Other times events drop things in our proverbial laps. We can't control the outcome through wishing. And we can only partially stack the deck by doing. That's the chaotic nature of the universe at work.