--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just as a flower which seems beautiful…" description: "\"Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not.\" — John D..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png" --- # Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but… ![“Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png) > “Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Empty words lack substance, like a flower without scent; they appear attractive but provide no real value. **In simple terms:** Talk without action is meaningless. Key Takeaway Speak with action. Themes authenticity communication integrity Mood reflective critical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - leadership speeches - personal relationships - marketing copy - political rhetoric Key Concepts substance meaning expression Questions to Reflect On - How can you ensure your words are backed by action? - What impact do empty promises have on relationships? A Different Perspective Words without deeds can erode trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Fruitless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruitless/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are wise words when spoken, but fruitless these words are when not carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/like-a-beautiful-flower-full-of-colour-but-without-scent-are-wise/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Just as a flower does not choose its color, we are not responsible for what we have come to be. Only when you realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-as-a-flower-does-not-choose-its-color-we-are-not-responsible-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Just because a flower will fade, does not mean we should neglect its beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dannika-dark/just-because-a-flower-will-fade-does-not-mean-we-should-neglect-its/) [Dannika Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dannika-dark/) > [You are amazing just as you are. You are a flower in the spring, and you lay in morning breeze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-amazing-just-as-you-are-you-are-a-flower-in-the-spring-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She had a flower tattoo on her wrist; What does that mean? he asked her. Absolutely nothing, she said, it's just a flower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-had-a-flower-tattoo-on-her-wrist-what-does-that-mean-he-asked-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fruitless striving breeds less despair than inaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/fruitless-striving-breeds-less-despair-than-inaction/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“If you waste time watering a fruitless tree, fruitful ones may die of thirst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-you-waste-time-watering-a-fruitless-tree-fruitful-ones-may-die-of/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [Trying to get without first giving is as fruitless as trying to reap without having sown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/trying-to-get-without-first-giving-is-as-fruitless-as-trying-to-reap/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I speak of the war as fruitless; for it is clear that, prosecuted upon the basis of the proclamations of September 22d and September…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-pierce/i-speak-of-the-war-as-fruitless-for-it-is-clear-that-prosecuted-upon/) [Franklin Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-pierce/) > [Think of the 40 years of confrontation. What is it we gained?...The old style has exposed itself: it is fruitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergey-akhromeyev/think-of-the-40-years-of-confrontation-what-is-it-we-gained-the-old/) [Sergey Akhromeyev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergey-akhromeyev/) > [The prayer that is faithless is fruitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/the-prayer-that-is-faithless-is-fruitless/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [“But to this Orc-work such a life as we lead has brought us. Lawless and fruitless all our deeds have been, serving only ourselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/but-to-this-orc-work-such-a-life-as-we-lead-has-brought-us-lawless/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [If there is no effort towards the relationship, it's like irrigating a fruitless trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nino-jobo-lucy/if-there-is-no-effort-towards-the-relationship-it-s-like-irrigating-a/) Nino Jobo Lucy > [“He was a vegetable, so trying to change his mind was fruitless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/he-was-a-vegetable-so-trying-to-change-his-mind-was-fruitless/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Knowledge is vain and fruitless which is not reduced to practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/knowledge-is-vain-and-fruitless-which-is-not-reduced-to-practice/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Beautiful quotes > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) Tumblr > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/) [Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/) > [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) [Browse all 17,976 Beautiful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-and-has-color-but-no-perfume/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beautiful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-and-has-color-but-no-perfume/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71c/john-dewey-545_beautiful_just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-a_1952548.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man…” — John Dewey", "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": "John Dewey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Just as a flower which seems...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-and-has-color-but-no-perfume/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/just-as-a-flower-which-seems-beautiful-and-has-color-but-no-perfume/#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 } } ] } ```