--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To know what people really think, pay…" description: "\"To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.\" — George Santayana" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png" --- # To know what people really think, pay regard to what they… ![“To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png) > “To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Actions reveal true beliefs more reliably than spoken words. **In simple terms:** Watch deeds, not just words. Key Takeaway Judge character by behavior. Themes trust integrity observation Mood skeptical thoughtful Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - leadership evaluation - personal relationships - political analysis Key Concepts philosophy psychology behavioral analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify someone's sincerity? - When have actions contradicted words? A Different Perspective People can mask intentions with rhetoric. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Pay Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-regard-1363202/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Really Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-think/) [Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard/) [Regard Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard-say-1363201/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Think Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-pay-1282635/) ## Related quotes > [“In the way we regard our children, our spouses, neighbors, colleagues, and strangers, we choose to see others either as people like ourselves or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arbinger-institute/in-the-way-we-regard-our-children-our-spouses-neighbors-colleagues/) [Arbinger Institute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arbinger-institute/) > [For which reason I would exhort you to pay all due Regard to the government over us; to the KING and all in authority;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-mayhew/for-which-reason-i-would-exhort-you-to-pay-all-due-regard-to-the/) [Jonathan Mayhew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-mayhew/) > [“A man should therefore pay regard to the place, to the time, and to the practice which is to be carried out, as also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-vatsyayana/a-man-should-therefore-pay-regard-to-the-place-to-the-time-and-to-the/) [M. Vatsyayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-vatsyayana/) > [I think how pay gets determined is pretty broad - experience, how people look, what they bring to the job. But there's no question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-dee-myers/i-think-how-pay-gets-determined-is-pretty-broad-experience-how-people/) [Dee Dee Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-dee-myers/) > [So we do sometimes think because it has been found to pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/so-we-do-sometimes-think-because-it-has-been-found-to-pay/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [We think they should pay €60 for being so stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-o-leary/we-think-they-should-pay-60-for-being-so-stupid/) [Michael O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-o-leary/) > [I think you pay people based on their work and not based on gender. It's that simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stana-katic/i-think-you-pay-people-based-on-their-work-and-not-based-on-gender-it/) [Stana Katic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stana-katic/) > [Did ya ever think that we would pay the price for being lazy?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/did-ya-ever-think-that-we-would-pay-the-price-for-being-lazy/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [You need to think about how you will pay for children before you have them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-hopkins/you-need-to-think-about-how-you-will-pay-for-children-before-you-have/) [Katie Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-hopkins/) > [If the Trump tax cuts get extended or made permanent, I think there have to be pay-fors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-bessent/if-the-trump-tax-cuts-get-extended-or-made-permanent-i-think-there/) [Scott Bessent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-bessent/) > [When I was kid, I used to think pay-per-view was actually paper view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-was-kid-i-used-to-think-pay-per-view-was-actually-paper-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think we should pay people to fight terrorism. I would be amazed if they asked for anything in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/i-don-t-think-we-should-pay-people-to-fight-terrorism-i-would-be/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [ I think a lot of people in my circle are thinking that way or see the movie \[Into the Forest\] and then really think… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-page/i-think-a-lot-of-people-in-my-circle-are-thinking-that-way-or-see-the/) [Ellen Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-page/) > [It's hard to pretend you don't care about someone when really there all you think about](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-hard-to-pretend-you-don-t-care-about-someone-when-really-there/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I guess when I really think about it, God's voice sounds a lot like my voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-mcmanus/i-guess-when-i-really-think-about-it-god-s-voice-sounds-a-lot-like-my/) [Erwin McManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-mcmanus/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Pay quotes > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [If you're a top 10 guy you should pay a top 10 guy or even a top 5 guy what he deserves, whether it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aljamain-sterling/if-you-re-a-top-10-guy-you-should-pay-a-top-10-guy-or-even-a-top-5/) [Aljamain Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aljamain-sterling/) > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. 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They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Britain should take pride in a foreign policy that reflects her values and responsibilities - but it must be grounded in the tangible interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-raab/britain-should-take-pride-in-a-foreign-policy-that-reflects-her/) [Dominic Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-raab/) > [“The police ultimately pay the price for poor customer service when citizens become fearful of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-police-ultimately-pay-the-price-for-poor-customer-service-when/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I'm not a fan of endless mystery in storytelling - I like to know where the mythology's going; I like to get there in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kripke/i-m-not-a-fan-of-endless-mystery-in-storytelling-i-like-to-know-where/) [Eric Kripke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kripke/) > [Simple fairness dictates that government must not raise taxes on families struggling to pay their bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/simple-fairness-dictates-that-government-must-not-raise-taxes-on/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) [Browse all 9,277 Pay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Santayana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-regard-to-what-they-do-rather/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Pay" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-regard-to-what-they-do-rather/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/george-santayana-478_pay_to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-reg_1723750.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.” — George Santayana", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Santayana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To know what people really think,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-regard-to-what-they-do-rather/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-know-what-people-really-think-pay-regard-to-what-they-do-rather/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```