行胜于言的高中英语作文

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,andpersonsnotentitledtopopularityretainitbecauseoftheirskillwithlanguageorotherformsofappeal.ItappearsPlato’sconcernaboutrhetoricisoccasionallyjustified.

Howeverthereiscertainlyevidencethatactionsspeakthanlouderthanwordsinavarietyofcircumstances.Theparentwhotellsachildnottosmokeandthenlightsacigaretteisunlikelytoconvincethatchildoftheevilsofsmoking.Thishasbeenprovenbystatisticalinformationshowingthegreaterlikelihoodofchildrenbecomingsmokersiftheirparentssmoke.Clearly,insomeinstances,actionswillinfluencemorethanwords,andthoughwordsremainpowerful,howpeopleactmaymitigatetheeffectsoflanguage,orproveitspower.