Literal translation
a small good deed is worth more than a great good intention
Meaning
a small good deed is worth more than a great good intention
Explanation
This saying contrasts a concrete action, however modest, with a generous intention that never moves beyond the stage of a plan, asserting the superiority of the former over the latter. The words small, good, action, and intention are all well attested in our dictionaries, while the word rendered as better, though not found under this exact form, corresponds directly to an attested variant of the same term, which confirms it beyond doubt. The saying plays on the classic comparative construction, better this than that, to rank two moral values often confused with one another: good will, which costs nothing and produces nothing tangible, and the act actually carried out, which changes something in the world even on a small scale. The lesson belongs to a pragmatic wisdom very present in Provençal sayings, which consistently value the actual deed over words or pious wishes. It is used to encourage someone to act, more than to settle for good resolutions, in a sententious, didactic register.