Thesentimentbehindthesayingactionsspeaklouderthanwordsisexpressedinmanycultures.Therearecertainlyreferencestosayingslikeitinantiquity,butitmayhavebeenfirstexpressedinEnglishinthe1700s.ThefirstreferenceinEnglishverysimilartoitisinthebookWillandDoom,writtenbyGershamBulkeleyin1692,whospeaksofactionsas“moresignificantthanwords.”ThebasicideaofBulkeley’s,whichwasnotnewinexpression,isthatactionsspeaklouderthanwordsasagreaterdeterminantofbehaviorandcharacter.Peoplecansayanything,butwhenwhattheysayanddoarecontrary,it’seasiertojudgebywhatisdoneinsteadofbywhatissaid.Thephrase“sayingonethinganddoinganother,”isrelatedtothisidea.Anotherwayoflookingatthisoldsaying,“actionsspeaklouderthanwords,”isasaguideforhowtolivelife.Actionsshouldmeetverbalobligationsorsentiments,andtheyshouldnotcontradictthem.Ifapersonconstantlytalksabouttheplightofthepoorbutneverthinksofdonatingtoacharityorinanywaymitigatingthatplight,theirwordshaveahollownessoremptyquality.Similarly,whenpeopleascribetocertainbeliefsets,likevariousreligions,thatemphasizehumility,butthendonotactinahumbleway,theiractionsaremoretellingthantheirprofessionsoffaith.Thecarwiththebumpersticker“WhatwouldJesusDo?”thatcutsapersonoffanddrivesrecklesslyissendingadualandcontradictorymessage.St.Francisnotedthisinparticularwhenhesuggestedthatpeoplepreachthegospelbut“usewordsifnecessary.”Hisideaisthatpreachingcouldbeactiveinsteadofverbal,andthatwordsweresecondarytoaction,andcouldbeexpressedinthecommonphrase,“practicewhatyoupreach.”Thereisactuallylegitimateandongoingscrutinyaboutwhetheractionsspeaklouderthanwordsallofthetimeandinallplaces.Wordsareimportant,andpeopledolistentothem.Theydon’talwayswaittojudgewhetherwordsarebackedupwithaction,thoughthismightbethewisercourse.Wordscertainlyhavethecapacitytoharmorelevate,andtheymaysometimesspeaklouderthanactions.EveninancientGreece,PlatowasstronglyagainsttheSophistteachingofrhetoricbecauseitmightbeusedinimmoralwaystoconvincepeopletothinkinunethicalwaysordrawfalseconclusions.Someofhiscontemporaries,likeIsocrates,stressedthatthepoweroflanguagehadtomatchthepowerofmorality,andthatrhetoricallanguageshouldonlybeusedinanethicalmanner.Isocratesalsoembodiedtheactionsspeaklouderthanwordsphilosophy,andverymuchusedhisrhetoricalskilltoattempttobringaboutunificationofGreecebyfrequentlywritingtoGrecianleadersofcity-statestopleadforthis.Inoneformofjournalism,called“gotchajournalism,”writersandnewscastersattempttocatchpeopleeithercontradictingthemselveswithotherwords,oractinginamannerinconsistentwithwhatthey’vesaid.GotchajournalismhascertainlybecomeeasierwiththeInternet,sincepeoplecansearchanyone’swordsandfindoutifthey’vematchedactions,andit’sbecomingincreasinglycommonfortheaveragecitizentoperformthesekindsofsearches,especiallyonpoliticiansorwell-knownfiguresinthemedia.It’snotalwaysknownwhetheractionsorwordsbecomethedeterminingfactorinthepopularityofcelebritiesorpoliticians;despiteactionstothecontrary,sometimeswordswin,andpersonsnotentitledtopopularityretainitbecauseoftheirskillwithlanguageor