Writing may be either the record of a deed or a deed. It is nobler when it is a deed.
Source: Journals, entry for 7 Jan 1844.
-- Henry David Thoreau, (Jul 12 1817-1862), US essayist, poet, naturalist; He is best known for his description of life at Walden Pond, Walden, 1854 and his essay Civil Disobedience, 1849.