What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- There is often a gap between what people say, what they claim to do, and what they actually do.
- In plain terms
- People say things, claim actions, and do different things.
- What can you take from it?
- Watch actions, not just words.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do people lie?
- How do you trust?
Another view
Sometimes people intend to do things but fail due to circumstances.
More from Margaret Mead
We women are doing pretty well. We're almost back to where we were in the twenties. (1976)
Permalink to quote #63 When our baby stirs and struggles to be born it compels humility: what we began is now its own.
Permalink to quote #65 We will be a better country when each religious group can trust its members to obey the dictates of their own religious faith without assistance from the legal…
Permalink to quote #62
Related quotes
Looking back at the worst times, it always seems that they were times in which there were people who believed with absolute faith and absolute dogmatism in som…
Richard FeynmanRichard Feynman quote #54 The theatre is the best way of showing the gap between what is said and what is seen to be done, and that is why, ragged and gap-toothed as it is, it has still…
David HareDavid Hare quote #1 Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.
Agatha ChristieAgatha Christie quote #2