Actions speak louder than words.

The proverb says that what people do reveals their intentions better than what they say. Promises, compliments and excuses cost little; deeds show whether they were meant. It is used to judge a friend, a partner or a politician, and to urge someone to prove good intentions rather than repeat them.

The idea runs through many traditions. The First Epistle of John, in the King James Bible, urges: “let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth”. The Latin phrase “Facta, non verba”, deeds, not words, has served as a motto for many institutions. And Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard put it his own way: “Well done is better than well said.”

Spanish has “Obras son amores, que no buenas razones”: love is shown in deeds, not in fine words.

English proverb