Talking much is a sign of vanity, for the one who is lavish with words is cheap in deeds.
Interpretation
This quote highlights that excessive talk often stems from vanity and that those who speak a lot may not necessarily act on their words.
Walter Raleigh's quote emphasizes the idea that talking excessively can be a manifestation of vanity, suggesting that people who are overly verbal often lack substantial actions to back up their words. It serves as a reminder that true value is found in actions rather than empty rhetoric, and that meaningful deeds hold far more significance than mere words. This reflects a wider philosophical view that advocates for authenticity and integrity in communication and behavior.
In practice
In a speech about integrity, a speaker might use this quote to emphasize the importance of aligning actions with words.
Passions are liken'd best to floods and streams:_x000D_ _x000D_ The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb;_x000D_ _x000D_ So, when affection yields discourse, it seems_x000D_ _x000D_ The bottom is but shallow whence they come._x000D_ _x000D_ They that are rich in words, in words discover
Silence in love betrays more woe - Than words though ne'er so witty; A beggar that is dumb, you know, may challenge double pity.
Even such isTime, which takes in trust Our youth, our joys, and all we have, And pays us but with age and dust, Who in the dark and silent grave When we have wandered all our ways Shuts up the story of our days, And from which earth, and grave, and dust The Lord shall raise me up, I trust.
If she undervalues me, _x000D_ _x000D_ What care I how fair she be?
If all the world and love were young,_x000D_ _x000D_ And truth in every shepherd's tongue,_x000D_ _x000D_ These pretty pleasures might me move_x000D_ _x000D_ To live with thee, and be thy love.
It is the nature of men having escaped one extreme, which by force they were constrained long to endure, to run headlong into the other extreme, forgetting that virtue doth always consist in the mean.
You don't have to wear a label to be important.
Now is the time when we must renew ourselves and live as if we and all of life is sacred, and as if everything we do makes a difference.
The hard discipline, with the exception of one great good point, is fraught with evil. The good point is that men can do one or two things well with very little effort, having practiced them every day through generations.
You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself flowers in your veins,_x000D_ till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and_x000D_ perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than_x000D_ so, because men and women are in it who are every one sole heirs as well_x000D_ as you. Till you can sing and rejoice and delight, as misers do in gold, and_x000D_ kings in scepters, you never enjoy the world.
You don't need to climb a mountain to know that it's high.
Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.
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