Maxim

Let your actions match your words.

“He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.”

— Confucius, Analects 2.13 (Wei Zheng), tr. James Legge · source Verified
Confucianism · Ancient (before 200 BCE)
Translation: public-domain translation (Legge)

Fine words cost little; what we do shows what we really believe. Living out what we say, quietly and first, is how trust is built, in others and in ourselves.

Related expressions

“Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly.”
— The Buddha (Dhammapada), Dhammapada, verse 51, tr. F. Max Müller
BuddhismAncient (before 200 BCE)relation: expressesVerifiedsourceTranslation: public-domain translation (Max Müller)
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
— James, James 1:22 (KJV)
Watch on YouTube: BibleProject: The Book of James ↗BibleProject gives an animated overview of James
ChristianityClassical (200 BCE – 600 CE)relation: expressesVerifiedsourceTranslation: King James Version (public domain)
“Believers! why profess ye that which ye practise not? Most hateful is it to God that ye say that which ye do not.”
— The Qur'an, Qur'an 61:2–3 (Sura As-Saff, 'Battle Array'), tr. J. M. Rodwell
IslamMedieval (600 – 1500)relation: expressesVerifiedsourceTranslation: public-domain translation (J. M. Rodwell)
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
— Jesus, Matthew 7:20 (KJV)
ChristianityClassical (200 BCE – 600 CE)relation: similarVerifiedsourceTranslation: King James Version (public domain)

Score

Moral Rank 78.7 · Evidence E = 17.63

E = ln(1+4.16) + √4.16 + 3·3.15 + 1.5·3 = 17.63

How this is scored