言行一致

Pronunciation: yán xíng yī zhì Literal meaning: Words and actions consistent

Origin & Usage

Words (言) and deeds (行) at one (一致). The Analects sets the standard it assumes — 君子欲讷于言而敏于行, the gentleman wishes to be halting in speech and quick in action — and the ordering matters: the remedy for a gap between the two is taken to be saying less, not achieving more. That is a distinctly Chinese emphasis and it survives in how the phrase gets used. It is applied to institutions as readily as to people, and it is most often invoked to say the thing is missing.

Examples

English: "She always practices what she preaches."

Chinese: 她总是言行一致。