We've all heard it before. "Actions speak louder than words." It shows up at different points of life: it'll come from parents reprimanding for consistent character, friends or co-workers debating it in internal debacles of drama, or maybe just remain something one believes in, an integral part of morale. I would like to conjecture though, as a word aficionado and one devoted to the craft of the English language, (and Spanish because more words = more fun) that this expression is a product of human flaw. If people only said what they mean and mean what they say: poof. Words and actions are of equal value. They are merely different productions of something, whether it is a declaration of support or a direct act that communicates support; likewise, with various other somethings of which us human beings all carry within us and yearn to convey to one another.

Words mean a great deal to someone like me. If someone says something to me that is tinged with an emotion that emerges from their soul's inner alcove or inspires me to pummel through barriers before me, you can believe that I will not soon forget the words, the grammatical arrangement, the tone, the typography within context, the everything. Someone recently told me she thinks me to be "strong". The night this undeserved attribute was bestowed upon me, "strong" stuck with me, floated in my brain, and gave me resolve that I did not realize I even had. Personally, language is the ocean upon which all of my dreams, fulfillments, and goals move and surge with rising tides, and I know I am not the only one of my kind.

So, I suppose I am just writing wishfully. Actions are massive; actions speak volumes. There are plenty of times in my life at present, and I know many of you could relate, in which an individual makes a statement or a promise that is not followed or sealed with action. Suddenly, words are empty. This is where the expression gains its prey, human folly. It seeps into every level of life and perception.

But when I think of words spoken by Christ or Aristotle's remarks or civil rights speeches or profound poetic musings or the Constitution, I see such worth, such value in words that how is there to be a ranking, a pricing of them? They are invaluable.

If only actions and words could speak the same. If only sweet humanity would be sweeter with itself and adhere to truth-telling rather than sugar-coating. If only words were not so vulnerable to the lips or pencils/keyboards that give them life.

There is a possibility for another expression to exist in response to this one:

"Be the person who has both words and actions that are powerful."