
“The exemplary person is ashamed when their words exceed their deeds.” The sentence appears in Xian Wen, a chapter of the Analects. Here, “exceed” does not mean making a mistake; it means allowing what one says to run ahead of what one actually does.
The passage records only this sentence, so its immediate conversation is no longer visible. In the same chapter, however, Confucius says that when someone speaks without reserve, carrying out the words will be difficult. The modern lesson need not be a command to speak less. Public commitments can sometimes support action. The issue is whether we let results test our words, then revise them when our deeds do not reach them, instead of increasing the volume.
https://ctext.org/analects/xian-wen/zh
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