bear in mind:
actions - result of ones provement in showing that they're to get things done
words - result of one taking into account in a thought process before quick judement (i.e. one usually thinks about something before they do it)
2007-07-11 23:52:38 · 17 answers · asked by z 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
for example: would one go/or not go to war and need to think about the cause if it was right or wrong before taking action?
2007-07-12 00:08:47 · update #1
Hi Buttercup,
What comes to mind when you hear: "Do as I say, not as I do"?
The point is that actions and words should both be consistent. You can't have one without the other. Everyone above me has rightly stated that actions speak louder than just empty words. This is a given.
Your question suggests that actions are of lesser value than words because they are not well thought out, and are the result of a snap judgment. Why do you assume someone's actions necessarily have not been well thought out? Are you thinking of a specific example where this might have occurred?
Well done is better than well said.
— Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is not by their words, but by their deeds that ye shall know them.
– old parable
We are what we repeatedly do
— Aristotle
2007-07-12 21:59:37 · answer #1 · answered by HawaiianBrian 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since this is in the philosophy section, I am going to try to take it into that realm, which I think will seem counter-intuitive.
If we accept a constitutive element to language (i.e., words construct the world), we would have to take words as more important than actions. The constitutive nature of language is such that we "create" the world with "words." As Wittgenstien once said, "If I spoke a different language, I would see a different world." Anyone that speaks more than one language can quickly see that words, phrases, and meanings in one do not always fit well in others. One quick example is the difference between English and Albanian for "smoking a cigarette." In English, "smoking" emphasizes and sees the event as focused on that which comes of the burning cigarette (ie., smoke). Conversely, in Albanian, they say "drink a cigarette" (the event is now like water or tea). Thus, words matter a lot.
HOWEVER, the two choices "actions or words" can be reduced to ONE category "actions" because all acts of "words" (e.g., writing, speaking, singing, etc.) are ALSO actions. So, given this, I have to go with "action" because it already includes "words" too.
IN essence, the two are interdependent. What is an action, if it cannot be described by words? How could words be used without doing some action (e.g., speaking, writing, etc.). So, the question is similar to asking: Which is more important inhaling or exhaling?
P.s.--It seems odd that all the other answers are either (1) a person who says actions are important and use a lot of words to get their point across or (2) a person who says words, yet does not use many. Seems odd, doesn't it?
P.s.s.--For Jack below me, one must realize that the "commode" doesn't exist (whether clean or dirty) UNTIL we have a word for it. You attempt to prove the power of action, but the only way you have to so is through the use of "words."
2007-07-12 00:12:26 · answer #2 · answered by Think 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actions speak louder than words. I have an ex husband who bought his first car at 17, it was some kind of muscle car. At age 21 he quit driving it for some unknown reason. He put it in his backyard until he could get around to fixing it. He is now 50 years old and that car is a bucket of rust still sitting in his backyard, but hey...he's still going to fix it one day, or so he says. Ya think his words are going to get it done or his actions?
2007-07-12 01:48:10 · answer #3 · answered by floridagirl1261 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actions can be practical, but also ephemeral and meaningless. Words, on the other hand, can be timeless. The ideal would be to make a timeless action...Love maybe?
Good luck!
2007-07-12 05:32:40 · answer #4 · answered by Alex 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actions do speak louder than words.
It's okay to say that you will do something if you actually follow it through (and - yeah - think about it first) - but saying it then not doing it - that's infuriating for other people.
2007-07-11 23:57:13 · answer #5 · answered by ShoCh 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Which would you prefer, the man who says "I love you" without ever showing it, or the man who shows that he loves you every single day? Words are meaningless without the actions. How many men have said "I'm only doing this because I love you" as they were beating the living daylights out of their wife?
2007-07-11 23:55:59 · answer #6 · answered by kja63 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We all commit actions without talking about it first.
And we all say things that we never do.
Words are the course we chart.
Action is weathering the storms and trying to stay on that course.
2007-07-12 08:33:22 · answer #7 · answered by phil8656 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thoughts are more important than actions or words, and thoughts are the origin of both actions and words.
2007-07-12 01:33:08 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Words that align with actions. Words make promises actions keep them. Which is sanity.
2007-07-12 09:47:51 · answer #9 · answered by Real Friend 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Words: Commode filthy.
Is the commode now clean?
Action: Disinfectant, brush, solvent, sand paper, steel wool, scrubbing.
Is the commode cleaner now?
2007-07-12 00:35:52 · answer #10 · answered by Jack P 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋