Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.
Interpretation
Actions speak louder than words; focus on your work rather than boasting.
This quote by Thomas Jefferson emphasizes the importance of humility and the value of actions over words. It suggests that rather than discussing past achievements or future plans, one should let their actions demonstrate their capabilities and intentions, as true merit is shown through conduct rather than mere talk.
In practice
During a team meeting, you can quote this to emphasize the importance of focusing on results rather than talk.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses.
God intends no man to live in this world without working, but it seems to me no less evident that He intends every man to be happy in his work.
There are no variations except for those who know a norm, and no subtleties for those who have not grasped the obvious.
The future hasn't happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I'm in.
In the space of no-mind, truth descends like light
Caution is the confidential agent of selfishness.
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