Usually filed under mindfulness and attributed to Thich Nhat Hanh or Sylvia Boorstein. The earliest match Quote Investigator can find is a 1954 Philadelphia Inquirer column about radar platforms to be built 125 miles out at sea, where whoever drew the posting would be extremely alone: “Their orders will be: ‘Don’t just do something. Sit there.’” The joke came first; the wisdom was retrofitted.