1.
action before words; quietly getting things done
The attitude of doing what needs to be done quietly and steadily, without boasting or announcing it beforehand.
彼は不言実行の人だ。
He is a man of action, not words.
不言実行をモットーにしている。
I make "action before words" my motto.
不言実行で、彼は文句も言わずに難しい仕事をやり遂げた。
True to "action over words," he completed the difficult job without a single complaint.
A four-character idiom (四字熟語) made of 不言 (not speaking) + 実行 (carrying out). It praises people who act quietly instead of making big declarations.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 不言実行の人: a person who acts without talking
- 不言実行を心がける: to aim to act rather than talk
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 有言実行: doing what one has said one will do — the modern counterpart that values declaring goals and then achieving them
- 言行一致: consistency between words and actions