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.
There is a fear of voluptuousness that is itself voluptuous, just as a certain fear of death can itself be deadly.
So, you are very welcome to our house. It must appear in other ways than words, Therefore, I scant this breathing courtesy.
When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our acting or our role playing is crucial to the gender that we are and the gender that we present to the world.
My passport photo is one of the most remarkable photographs I have ever seen- no retouching, no shadows, no flattery-just stark me.
You need to rebel to see the other options and to get a much richer, fuller sense of the world. And it's only once you've worked through that and seen through that that you can come back and accept who you are. You have to try all the other options.
It is human nature to look away from illness. We don't enjoy a reminder of our own fragile mortality. That's why writing on the Internet has become a lifesaver for me. My ability to think and write have not been affected. And on the Web, my real voice finds expression.
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