When we instantly give money to charity or to the poor on the streets instead of just talking about how important charity is.ģ. When we do something for someone else instead of simply promising to do it.Ģ. Few examples of when the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words’ can be used includes the following:ġ. Cognitive studies of gesture, and psychological studies of body language, for instance, have demonstrated that behavior can be an even more accurate indicator of a person’s thoughts, emotions and intentions than their words are. This aphorism is, interestingly, increasingly being backed up by science. – Whether that person carries out their promises.
– How kind and peaceful that person’s behavior is. – How that person behaves towards vulnerable people: do they help the poor, the sick and the elderly? This phrase suggests that if one wants to judge a person’s personality, one should look at how they behave and not just at what they say. Thus, the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words’ suggests that actions are a more reliable indicator of a person’s thoughts than their words are. If a person says that they will help us out, but then do not take any action to help, we may say that ‘actions speak louder than words’. This phrase is often used to counteract hypocrisy. In this sense, their actions speak louder than their words: their failure to help tells us more about their true intentions than their words did. For example, they can say that they want to help out, but then do nothing about it. A person’s actions are said to ‘speak’ in that they broadcast that person’s intentions and thoughts to the world.Ī person can say one thing and then do another. This aphorism means that a person’s deeds are often more important than what they say. Since then, the phrase has been adopted by many famous people including the president Abraham Lincoln and the novelist Mark Twain. However, the first written usage was in 1628. Proverbs often start off their existence as sayings that are spoken but not written down, so we may never know the first time that the phrase was used. This phrase was definitely in existence as a proverb in the seventeenth century. Origin of the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words’. Within this little phrase, a whole wealth of meaning is contained. Introduction: When we interpret or judge other people’s intentions, we often say that ‘actions speak louder than words’.