from The Bhagavad Gita
In this world there are two roads of perfection.  Not by refraining from action does man attain freedom from action.  Not by mere renunciation does he attain supreme perfection.  For not even for a moment can a man be without action.  Helplessly are all driven to action by the forces born of Nature.  He who withdraws himself from actions, but ponders on their pleasures in his heart, he is under a delusion and is a false follower of the Path.  But great is the man who, free from attachments, and with a mind ruling its powers in harmony, works on the path of Karma Yoga, the path of consecrated action.  Action is greater than inaction: perform therefore thy task in life.  Even the life of the body could not be if there were no action.  The world is in the bonds of action, unless the action is consecration.  Let thy actions then be pure, free from the bonds of desire.  Thus spoke the Lord of Creation when he made both man and sacrifice: “By sacrifice thou shalt multiply and obtain all thy desires. By sacrifice shalt thou honour the gods and the gods will then love thee.  And thus in harmony with them shalt thou attain the supreme good.  For pleased with thy sacrifice, the gods will grant to thee the joy of all thy desires.  Only a thief would enjoy their gifts and not offer them in sacrifice.”
Holy men who take as food the remains of sacrifice become free from all their sins; but the unholy who have feasts for themselves eat food that is in truth sin.  Food is the life of all beings, and all food comes from rain above.  Sacrifice brings the rain from heaven, and sacrifice is sacred action.  Sacred action is described in the Vedas and these come from the Eternal, and therefore is the Eternal everpresent in a sacrifice.
The man who has found the joy of the Spirit and in the Spirit has satisfaction, who in the Spirit has found his peace, that man is beyond the law of action.  He is beyond what is done and beyond what is not done, and in all his works he is beyond the help of mortal beings.  In liberty from the bonds of attachment, do thou therefore the work to be done: for the man whose work is pure attains indeed the Supreme.
Let thy aim be the good of all, and then carry on thy task in life.
In the actions of the best men others find their rule of action.  The path that a great man follows becomes a guide to the world.  I have no work to do in all the worlds, and yet I work.  If I was not bound to action, men that follow many paths would follow my path of inaction.
Even as the unwise work selfishly in the bondage of selfish works, let the wise man work unselfishly for the good of all the world.