“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci. Adopted by Steve Jobs.
A Man returned home from visiting foreign lands. He told his friends of an adventurous leap he had made at Rhodes. The leap was so great, he said, that no other man could leap anywhere near the distance.
The Man offered witnesses. “No need of witnesses,” said one of the listeners. “Pretend this city is Rhodes. Jump here and show us now.”
Moral of the Story: Action is self-evidenced.
Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Why We Loved It: We are reminded that talk is cheap, and actions speak louder than words. Action and deeds are self-evidencing proof of truth. And the proof of something’s quality, is that it has actually sustains.
Aesop here teaches an early lesson in legal procedure; that is, evidence. Words about actions are often unreliable evidence, if not first-hand witnesses, and even then, subject to many human interpretations. This adduces the law of hearsay (words about the words about things), and the law of cross-examination to extract the flaws of even first-hand words about events. But then we have real and demonstrative evidence.
Aesop teaches in a simple fable what volumes of legal treatises express. If the truth can be replicated, prove it by the best of all proof:
The common sense of the self-evidencing, just do it.
“[I]f I shall ever deserve any real repute in that small but high hushed world which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if hereafter I shall do anything that, upon the whole, a man might rather have done than to have left undone; then here I prospectively ascribe all the honour and the glory to whaling; for a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.” Herman Melville, Moby Dick
“The older I get, the less I listen to what people say, and the more I watch what they do.” Henry Ford
“Speak what is very good, do what is very honorable. Words are the shadows of deeds. It is easy to speak and difficult to act. Deeds are the substance of life, and wise sayings the adornment. Eminence endures in deeds but perishes in words. Words are wise, deeds are mighty.” Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom
“What is your opinion? A certain man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out today and work in the vineyard.’ The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but, afterwards he repented and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” [183] The ONE LinkedIn Reference Set Index [GRZ183] [LinkedIn #GRZ_183] ONE 2061 [T21:28] (“Deeds Over Words”)
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Gregg Zegarelli’s The Leap at Rhodes (GRZ98_27) serves as a clear exemplar of his pedagogical commitment to demonstrable integrity—the idea that truth is best evidenced through action, not assertion. This fable, deceptively simple in its premise, becomes a crucible for layered philosophical, legal, and moral lessons.
✦ DEEP DIVE ANALYSIS
Core Fable Summary
A man boasts of a great leap he made in Rhodes. When asked to prove it by replicating the leap at home, the challenger offers: “Pretend this city is Rhodes.” The point? Prove it where you stand.
1. Zegarelli’s Ethos: Demonstration Over Declaration
Zegarelli’s ethos is fundamentally performance-oriented virtue. This fable affirms several of his recurring themes:
- Truth is performative: One need not describe excellence—one need only be excellent.
- Rhetoric is suspect unless anchored: Zegarelli critiques not only lies, but unverified self-claims. A boast, like hearsay, fails evidentiary muster.
- Action is the ultimate audit: A person’s integrity lies not in their testimony, but in what survives scrutiny.
This connects with his maxim from The Woman Wins and other teachings on oath-making: declarations are only as good as their living proof. (See also: GRZ39X – “I Never Promised to Love My Wife.”)
2. Pedagogy: Legal and Epistemic Precision
Zegarelli embeds procedural law in the parable:
- Hearsay law: Testimony without direct perception is weaker.
- Demonstrative evidence: Replicability and tangibility are king in a courtroom and in life.
- Burden of proof: He who asserts, must prove. This is procedural doctrine taught through a childlike tale.
This elevates the fable into a pedagogical scaffold: children learn to “show not tell”; adults are reminded that courts, commerce, and credibility all hinge on the same principle.
3. Comparative Philosophical Anchors
The fable’s moral is amplified by high-integrity quotes:
- Henry Ford: “I watch what they do.”
- Baltasar Gracián: “Words are the shadows of deeds.”
- Jesus (Matthew 21:28–31): The obedient son is he who acts, not he who merely speaks compliance.
These citations transcend genre: industrialist, ethicist, and spiritual prophet all align on the primacy of actionable truth.
Even Melville’s quote—“a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard”—aligns with this ethos. Formal declaration (degrees, titles) matters less than what one actually did in life’s crucible.
4. Synthesis with Broader GRZ Teachings
- GRZ241 – “The Nonsense of Common Sense” critiques superficial platitudes; in contrast, demonstrable action bypasses the rhetorical fog.
- GRZ122 – “The Four Horsemen of the Social Justice Apocalypse” cautions against ideology unmoored from reality—again, watch what policies do, not what their champions say.
This fable thus fits seamlessly into Zegarelli’s ethos of disciplined realism, actionable virtue, and legal-philosophical rigor.
✦ CONCLUSION
“The Leap at Rhodes” distills a legal evidentiary rule into a life principle: replication is proof.
Gregg Zegarelli’s treatment of this Aesop fable reveals not only the skeletal moral of “actions speak louder than words,” but also the muscle and sinew of philosophical epistemology and legal doctrine. In his hands, the tale becomes a courtroom tutorial, a Socratic lesson, and a business maxim—bridging fable to fact, word to deed, and claim to consequence.
It may be one of the clearest distillations of Zegarelli’s ethos: honor lies in proof, not in proclamation.
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© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/prove-words-v-action-27-leap-rhodes-essential-aesop-zegarelli-esq-
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