A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.

Nehru’s remark suggests that in moments of crisis, effective leadership often depends less on slow, fully articulated reasoning than on trained instinct—habits of mind formed by experience, temperament, and prior reflection. The “subconscious” action is not mere impulse; it can be the rapid synthesis of knowledge and values under pressure. Only afterward does the leader supply explicit justifications, both to make sense of the decision personally and to persuade others in the public realm. The quote also hints at a tension in political life: reasons offered after the fact may be sincere yet incomplete, because the true drivers of action can be intuitive, emotional, or rooted in character rather than in formal argument.