The Washington family’s historic British Coat of Arms reads, “Exitus Acta Probat”. This, in English means “the end proves the deed.” George Washington truly understood this concept; a motto for his life was “Deeds not Words”.

In a letter to an acquaintance, Washington wrote:

“A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man, that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of his friends, and that the most liberal professions of good will are very far from being the surest marks of it.”

At another time, he wrote:

“If a person only sees, or directs from day to day what is to be done, business can never go on methodically or well, for in case of sickness, or the absence of the Director, delays must follow. System to all things is the soul of business. To deliberate maturely, and execute promptly is the way to conduct it to advantage. With me, it has always been a maxim, rather to let my designs appear from my works than by my expressions.”

He learned a lesson the hard way, with word communication, during the French and Indian war. It began, when he sent a letter to his brother and wrote: “I heard bullets whistle and believe me there was something charming in the sound”. Unfortunately, instead of his brother receiving it the French intercepted then published the letter throughout the Western World. Eventually the English King, George the II, heard of it, and commented: “He (Washington) would not say so, if he had been used to hear many.” Many years later, Washington was asked if he had said the above words. He solemnly replied with, “If I said so, it was when I was young.” This lesson with others constructed in Washington an attitude of “less said the better”. Instead of defending and explaining himself in a torrent of words he decided to faithfully perform his duty and let his actions be the presentation of who he truly was. When words were necessary, he would back them up with action. During the Revolutionary War, he would give his men a command and then he would jump right down with them, whether it was digging trenches or moving cannons.

There’s the old saying: “Actions speak louder than words”. Washington is definite proof of this maxim. He stayed true to his motto—Deeds not Words.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 pm and is filed under HIS-story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.