Well done is better than well said
Meaning: Actions and results are far more valuable than promises and fine words.
Origin: Benjamin Franklin printed it in Poor Richard's Almanack (1737). Franklin filled the spare corners of his almanac with sayings like this one, many adapted from older collections, and it sums up his lifelong preference for practical results over fine words.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Bien fait vaut mieux que bien dit (literally: Well done is worth more than well said)
- Spanish: Mejor hecho que bien dicho (literally: Better done than well said)
- Japanese: よく言うよりもよく行うことの方が重要 (Yoku iu yori mo yoku okonau koto no hō ga jūyō) (literally: Doing well is more important than saying well)
- German: Taten sprechen mehr als Worte (literally: Deeds speak more than words)
More proverbs about Communication
- A word once spoken can never be recalled — Choose your words carefully, for once said they cannot be unsaid.
- Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see — Acts of kindness transcend words and communicate beyond all physical limitations.
- He who talks much errs much — The more you speak, the more likely you are to make mistakes or say the wrong thing.
- The tongue is the enemy of the neck — Careless speech can bring serious consequences upon the speaker.
- A gentle answer turns away wrath — Responding calmly to anger defuses conflict; harsh replies only escalate it.
- Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt — Staying quiet is often wiser than speaking and confirming your ignorance.
From our compliments & insults
- Che rompiscatole — What an insufferable pest — someone who endlessly pesters and never lets you be.
- Testa quadrata — A rigid, inflexible blockhead who refuses to see beyond their fixed ideas.
- È un mammone — An overgrown man who can't make a decision without his mother — the Italian archetype of…