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Who really said it

Deeds, not words

Attributed to Emmeline Pankhurst 1858–1928 · British suffragette leader · founder of the WSPU
Attributed Free to reuse

Genuinely and correctly linked to Pankhurst as the militant motto of the Women’s Social and Political Union ↗, which she founded in 1903 — but it is an organisation’s rallying slogan, not a line she is documented to have authored, and the wording is a centuries‑old proverb she adopted rather than coined.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“Deeds, not words” Emmeline Pankhurst / WSPU motto (adopted 1903)

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Provenance

The source

Attributed motto
Deeds, not words
Organisation
Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)
Adopted
1903, Manchester
Underlying phrase
Latin res, non verba / facta non verba

Deeds, not words.

The WSPU’s motto — the phrase Pankhurst chose to signal a shift from petitioning to militant action. It is the English form of a long‑standing Latin proverb, not an original coinage.

WSPU motto and founding (Wikipedia)

How we trace it

  • The WSPU ↗ was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst on 10 October 1903; its recorded motto is “Deeds, not words.”
  • The sourced quotations on Wikiquote ↗ — drawn from her 1914 memoir My Own Story — do not include this phrase, consistent with it being an organisational slogan rather than a personal quotation.
  • “Deeds, not words” is the plain English of the Latin proverb res, non verba ↗ (“deeds, not words”), a sentiment far older than the suffrage movement.
Public domain

As a three‑word proverbial phrase it carries no copyright in any case; adopted as the WSPU motto it dates to 1903 (before the 1931 U.S. cutoff), and the underlying Latin proverb res, non verba is ancient. It is firmly in the public domain.

Fact-check

What people get wrong

Pankhurst is real to this quote — but not the way memes claim. Two things get muddled.

An old proverb, not Pankhurst Older than the movement

“Deeds, not words” is the plain English of the Latin proverb res, non verba ↗ (also facta non verba), used as family and regimental mottoes long before 1903. Pankhurst adopted a ready‑made phrase; she did not invent it.

A WSPU motto, not a personal quotation Slogan, not a saying

It was the organisation’s banner motto, not a line from a speech or book. Her sourced writings ↗, including My Own Story (1914), do not record her saying it as a personal statement.

The honest version: Pankhurst gave an ancient proverb its most famous modern life as the WSPU’s 1903 rallying cry ↗ — she chose it, she didn’t coin it.

Context

Why it mattered

By 1903, women in Britain had petitioned peacefully for the vote for half a century with little to show for it. Emmeline Pankhurst’s answer was to break with that patience: the WSPU would be judged by action, not argument.

“Deeds, not words” captured that stance in three words — a proverb old enough to feel like common sense, wielded to justify marches, window‑breaking, hunger strikes and imprisonment. The slogan’s force came less from novelty than from who was saying it, and what they were willing to do.

She chose an old proverb — and made it mean militancy.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Character Work

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Women's Social and Political Unionwikipedia.org

The WSPU's founding (10 Oct 1903, by Pankhurst) and its recorded motto, "Deeds, not words."
Emmeline Pankhurst (sourced quotations)wikiquote.org

Her documented quotations from My Own Story — notably not including this phrase, which was a motto, not a personal quote.
res, non verbawiktionary.org

The Latin proverb that literally means "deeds, not words" — the sentiment's classical ancestor.
Deeds Not Wordshistorytoday.com

Historical background on the suffragette slogan and the WSPU's militant turn.
Start of the suffragette movementparliament.uk

UK Parliament's account of the WSPU's 1903 founding and the shift to direct action.
Woman — or Suffragette?blog.oup.com

Oxford University Press on the language of the movement and how its terms took hold.

The true story

About Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst

1858–1928 · British suffragette leader · founder of the Women's Social and Political Union

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) was the leading figure of the militant British women’s suffrage movement. In 1903 she founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), whose members — the “suffragettes” — turned from petitions to direct action: marches, window‑breaking, hunger strikes and imprisonment. She adopted the terse slogan “Deeds, not words” to mark that deliberate break with decades of peaceful campaigning.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

“Deeds, not words,” motto of the Women’s Social and Political Union (founded 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst); English form of the Latin proverb res, non verba. See Women’s Social and Political Union, Wikipedia.

MLA (9th ed.)

“Women’s Social and Political Union.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.

APA (7th ed.)

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Women’s Social and Political Union. Wikipedia.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Deeds, not words’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/deeds-not-words

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