--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A person is what he says and does; that's…" description: "\"“A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn whether his reputation was earned or manufactured.”\" — Orson Scott Card" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png" --- # A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn… ![“A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn whether his reputation was earned or manufactured.” quote by Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png) > ““A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn whether his reputation was earned or manufactured.”” [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reputation is built through consistent words and actions, not just image. **In simple terms:** Actions and words shape reputation. Key Takeaway Align deeds with speech to earn trust. Themes integrity reputation authenticity trust character Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical leadership When to use this quote - leadership - personal branding - team dynamics Key Concepts ethical behavior social perception Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify someone's true character? - What actions best demonstrate integrity? A Different Perspective Reputation can be manipulated despite authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Learn Reputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-reputation-5579025/) [Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person/) [Person Says](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-says/) [Reputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reputation/) [Reputation Earned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reputation-earned-992344/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Young adult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-adult/) ## Related quotes > [HBO is really famous for hiring good people and staying out of their way until they ask for help, or need it. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-russo/hbo-is-really-famous-for-hiring-good-people-and-staying-out-of-their/) [Richard Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-russo/) > [A true professional feels no pressure to run up a client's bill, knowing that any reduction in revenues caused by being efficient will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-maister/a-true-professional-feels-no-pressure-to-run-up-a-client-s-bill/) [David Maister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-maister/) > [Trust and reputation are earned. Respect isn't earned or forced. Respect is something you give people until they don't deserve it anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/trust-and-reputation-are-earned-respect-isn-t-earned-or-forced/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [A good reputation is something that must be earned, yet can never be bought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/a-good-reputation-is-something-that-must-be-earned-yet-can-never-be/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [But Father has also taught him: Treat a man as if he had a fine reputation to protect, and he will usually endeavor to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/but-father-has-also-taught-him-treat-a-man-as-if-he-had-a-fine/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Any person that says, "Of course I wouldn't do \_\_\_\_\_\_" doesn't know their own heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrin-patrick/any-person-that-says-of-course-i-wouldn-t-do-doesn-t-know-their-own/) [Darrin Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrin-patrick/) > [First person who says that to my face, I'll punch you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/first-person-who-says-that-to-my-face-i-ll-punch-you/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [“making excuses takes away your opportunity to see what could have been. Don’t ever be that person who says “If I had only listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-alden/making-excuses-takes-away-your-opportunity-to-see-what-could-have/) [Michael Alden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-alden/) > [“Next person who says "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" will learn that it's not my fist, but the impact.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-gregory/next-person-who-says-it-s-not-the-heat-it-s-the-humidity-will-learn/) [Mike Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-gregory/) > [“It's useless to hold a person to anything he says wile he's in love, drunk, or running for office.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/it-s-useless-to-hold-a-person-to-anything-he-says-wile-he-s-in-love/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Its funny how the person who says they have your back will be the same person that stabs you in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-funny-how-the-person-who-says-they-have-your-back-will-be-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When a person says I AM I stands for the one and Am stands for existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/when-a-person-says-i-am-i-stands-for-the-one-and-am-stands-for/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [A person who says that O is the last letter of ZERO, instead of the first letter in OPPORTUNITY.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/araba/a-person-who-says-that-o-is-the-last-letter-of-zero-instead-of-the/) [Araba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/araba/) > [The person who says, 'I'm enlightened' probably isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/the-person-who-says-i-m-enlightened-probably-isn-t/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [A person that says, 'Losing is not difficult,' I don't even want to be around that person. And obviously, that person has never won…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cam-newton/a-person-that-says-losing-is-not-difficult-i-don-t-even-want-to-be/) [Cam Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cam-newton/) ## More by Orson Scott Card > [“You underestimate yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-underestimate-yourself/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Why did he hesitate? He finally admitted to himself that he was like an American child who was almost completely certain about Santa Claus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/why-did-he-hesitate-he-finally-admitted-to-himself-that-he-was-like/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“I don't know of a soul who doesn't maintain two separate lists of doctrines - the ones they believe they believe; and the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-don-t-know-of-a-soul-who-doesn-t-maintain-two-separate-lists-of/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Good people do not let others suffer needlessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/good-people-do-not-let-others-suffer-needlessly/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Where ideas are real and reality is shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-ideas-are-real-and-reality-is-shadow/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/ender-for-the-past-few-months-you-have-been-the-battle-commander-of/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Science fiction is about what could be but isn't; fantasy is about what couldn't be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/science-fiction-is-about-what-could-be-but-isn-t-fantasy-is-about/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/knowledge-is-just-opinion-that-you-trust-enough-to-act-upon/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Of course they accused Marcão of having done it without provocation—that’s the way of torturers of every age, to put the blame on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/of-course-they-accused-marc-o-of-having-done-it-without-provocation/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Where did this whole thing begin? If what we think of as reality is just a pattern that somebody brought Outside, and the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-did-this-whole-thing-begin-if-what-we-think-of-as-reality-is/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) [Explore all 1,158 Orson Scott Card quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## More Existentialism quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armond-white/if-critics-and-fanboys-weren-t-suckers-for-simplistic-nihilism-and/) [Armond White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armond-white/) > [“People may have to die, but morbidity will live forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mara-wilson/people-may-have-to-die-but-morbidity-will-live-forever/) [Mara Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mara-wilson/) > [“There are no greater or truer lords, gods, fathers, sons or holy spirits, than the humans. Humans are the highest beings on earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-are-no-greater-or-truer-lords-gods-fathers-sons-or-holy-spirits/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“If we are unable to tolerate ourselves when we are alone, how can we expect anyone else to be enriched by our company? Before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-corey/if-we-are-unable-to-tolerate-ourselves-when-we-are-alone-how-can-we/) [Gerald Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-corey/) > [Desire is this absurdity that holds open the infinity of possibility. Ever optimistic, ever resourceful, desire tells us what it sees as it speeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-farley/desire-is-this-absurdity-that-holds-open-the-infinity-of-possibility/) [Wendy Farley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-farley/) > [When it comes to explaining human thought and behavior, the possibility that heredity plays any role at all still has the power to shock.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/when-it-comes-to-explaining-human-thought-and-behavior-the/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Life packed a clever one-two punch: cruelty and absurdity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/life-packed-a-clever-one-two-punch-cruelty-and-absurdity/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) [Browse all 984 Existentialism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn whether his reputation was earned or manufactured.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Orson Scott Card" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s-how-you-learn-whether-his/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existentialism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s-how-you-learn-whether-his/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/310/orson-scott-card-134_existentialism_a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s_3138155.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn whether his reputation was earned or manufactured.” — Orson Scott Card", "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": "Orson Scott Card", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A person is what he says...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s-how-you-learn-whether-his/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/a-person-is-what-he-says-and-does-that-s-how-you-learn-whether-his/#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 } } ] } ```