Thoughts vs. Actions-AK

"I ought to pay attention to what they did rather than to what they said, not only because in the corruption of our morals there are few people who are willing to say everything they believe, but also because many do not know what they believe..." Rene Descartes Discourse on Method p. 13

I found it interesting how Rene Descartes talks about people's thoughts versus their actions. When faced with a hypothetical question of lets say morals, one does not always know the correct answer but when in that particular situation one has to chose. For example, dare I say the issue of abortion. There are many different views on this matter such as a black-and-white yes-or-no answer or an in-between-depends-on-the-situation answer. Until that person is actually faced with that moral dilemma they may not know what they would do. So in short it is better to observe the way a person handles a situations versus taking their word as verbatim.