Creativity Quote by Samuel Lover

A neat Victorian jab at the oldest con in the book: mistaking fluent talk for finished work. "Said will be a little ahead" grants speech its natural advantage. Words are cheap, fast, and socially rewarded; they get you credit before you earn it. But Lover tightens the screw with the second clause: "done should follow at his heel". The image is physical and mildly humiliating. Deeds aren’t invited to stroll in later; they’re supposed to shadow talk like a dutiful dog, close enough to nip at any exaggeration. It’s moral instruction disguised as a comic stage direction.

The line’s power comes from its choreography. "Said" leads, "done" follows, and the gap between them is where vanity, politics, salesmanship, and self-deception thrive. Lover doesn’t pretend the gap can be erased; he just insists it be kept small. That’s a pragmatic ethic, not a purist one, and it fits an artist-entertainer steeped in performance. In a culture of public recitations, parlor rhetoric, and reputation-making, the danger wasn’t silence; it was applause untethered to proof.

Subtextually, it’s also a warning to the speaker: if your actions can’t keep pace, your words will start sounding like a getaway car. Lover’s phrasing turns accountability into something visible and immediate. You don’t need a grand philosophy to police yourself; you need your "done" close enough to leave footprints right behind your "said."