I think you have understood the words incorrectly; "proceeds" usually is a plural noun, to describe the profits that are "ceded on your behalf" from some undertaking, whereas "precedes" literally means what you wanted, where "pre" means "before". meanwhile, "procedes" is a verb, although then it would mean going forwards past something, rather than specifically happening before it.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/precede#Usage_notes
> Not to be confused with "procede"

I actually spelled "precedes" wrong in my first comment; I don't think there's any currently-accepted word spelled "preceeds". English is a horrible mess.

No typo. I meant **proceeds**: understanding does not merely come before persuasion; it is what moves persuasion forward.

Yermin

@Yermin's bio

I think your avatar should say `PRECEEDS`, rather than `PROCEEDS`

am I missing some subtle pun?