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Quote of the Day: Well Done
Well done is better than well said. – Benjamin Franklin
Or good deeds trump good words. It seems today that people are more impressed by a slick set of words, carefully crafted than they are by actual accomplishments. Perhaps I should take some joy from that. After all, I make my living using words.
I do not. I have always been more impressed by what people actually do rather than what they say. Words do not build bridges, move goods, or protect countries. While words may help develop the plans, in the end, it is those that actually do the actions that provide the results. The better they execute the plans, the better the results.
Ironically, the better someone is at doing things, the easier it is to underestimate the skill required to do that thing. A star athlete makes it look effortless — so simple anyone can do it. Yet a batting average of .333 – hitting the ball one time out of every three times you are at bat — is enough to ensure admission to the hall of fame. It is truly an example of easier said than done.
When measuring a person, look at their deeds, not their words. Talk is cheap. Accomplishments are hard.
Published in Group Writing
For authors, their deeds are their final product. Words, true, but a finished product. In that case well said is well done. Many authors talk about what they plan to write. Fewer follow through and finish their works. Fewer still write good works.
Indeed. The Bible says “Well done good and faithful servant.”
And if it is easy to read, it was probably hard to write.
Can we relate this to the ubiquitous post mortem discussions of the mid-terms? Looking at Florida, voters could be confident in giving DeSantis a second term based on his actions and accomplishments as governor. There were an awful lot of Republican candidates, like Dr. Oz, asking for voters to support them merely based on their words. Most voters know that trusting politicians to do what they say is a pretty risky business, so they don’t necessarily vote the bums out. Who knows what the new batch might actually do? I’m not arguing that Fetterman or others have proven records of accomplishment, just that voters can be forgiven for not having a clear choice.
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This is part of the Quote of the Day (QOTD) project at Ricochet, in which any member is free to share a quote, with or without commentary. Here’s the signup sheet for November 2022, with many more open dates still available. If you post a QOTD, please include a link to your post in the comments on the signup sheet post.
We can, but I chose this quote over the one I was originally considering to provide myself with some space from the mid-terms. One thing I have learned as a historian is you sometimes need to spend time studying something before you can really understand what has happened and why.
“What a waste of time!” – the Media