I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
Interpretation
Actions reveal true thoughts and intentions more clearly than words.
In this quote, John Locke suggests that the true nature of a person can be better understood through their actions rather than their spoken words. He emphasizes the idea that what individuals do reflects their deeper beliefs and intentions, thereby serving as a more reliable indicator of their thoughts and character.
In practice
Using this quote in a discussion about leadership to emphasize the importance of leading by example.
For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.
The one in front of the gun lives forever
What do you think my brain is made for?_x000D_ _x000D_ Is it just a container for the mind?_x000D_ _x000D_ This great grey matter,_x000D_ _x000D_ Sensei replied what is your woman,_x000D_ _x000D_ Is she just a container for the child?_x000D_ _x000D_ That soft pink matter
A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an "intellectual" - find out how he feels about astrology.
Prostitution, although hounded, imprisoned, and chained, is nevertheless the greatest triumph of Puritanism.
Be as the sailor who keeps the polestar in his eye. By so doing we may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we will maintain a true course.
Cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.