The person whose clothes are extremely fine I am too apt to consider as not being possessed of any superiority of fortune, but resembling those Indians who are found to wear all the gold they have in the world in a bob at the nose.
Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
The only very marked difference between the average civilized man and the average savage is that the one is gilded and the other is painted.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
Ceremonies are the outworks of manners.
A man who examines the saddle and bridle and not the animal itself when he is out to buy a horse is a fool; similarly, only an absolute fool values a man according to his clothes, or according to his position, which after all is only something we wear like clothing.
I like to say that my mother had a very ordinary life. From the outside it didn't look like there was anything particularly special or wonderful about it, but when you watch somebody hold on to that life with both hands, it makes you think that life must be pretty damn good.
Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.
So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.
I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances.
There is so much more to this world then outward appearances. Our society basks in the illusion of normalcy every day, and hides from the truth every night.
Men are not to be judged by their looks, habits, and appearances; but by the character of their lives and conversations, and by their works.
Believe that others are better than you in the debths of their soul, although outwardly you may appear better than they.
A holy habit clenseth not a foule soule.
We commend a horse for his strength, and sureness of foot, and not for his rich caparisons; a greyhound for his share of heels, not for his fine collar; a hawk for her wing, not for her jesses and bells. Why, in like manner, do we not value a man for what is properly his own? He has a great train, a beautiful palace, so much credit, so many thousand pounds a year, and all these are about him, but not in him.
It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
Conversion must mean more than just being a 'card-carrying' member of the church with a tithing receipt, a membership card, a temple recommend, etc. It means to overcome the tendencies to criticize and to strive continually to improve inward weaknesses and not merely the outward appearances.
Sometimes glass glitters more than diamonds because it has more to prove.
Now of the lion one need have no fear, the leopard is a gentle creature, and even the snake you are terrified by is likely to turn in flight; but there is one thing you must beware of, I assure you. Bad Bishops. Don't be over-awed by the dignity of the throne. All have dignity, yes; but not all have the Grace. Discard the outer clothing; watch for the wolf.
What many men desire--that 'many' may be meant By the fool multitude that choose by show, Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach, Which pries not to th' interior, but like the martlet Builds in the weather on the outward wall, Even in the force and road of casualty.
In America it's good to show people you are fine, you're healthy, you're sporty, you're happy to do things, to live. And in France it's more like you don't have to show you have success.
People who wear their religion on their sleeves talk a lot about going to Sunday school, reading the Bible, and doing good works. And I suppose there's no harm in that. But if I'd gone to the trouble to pull all this together ... and people never paid any attention to it, never bothered to try to find out how the world worked, then I think I'd get annoyed.
Magicians and scientists are, on the face of it, poles apart. Certainly, a group of people who often dress strangely, live in a world of their own, speak a specialized language and frequently make statements that appear to be in flagrant breach of common sense have nothing in common with a group of people who often dress strangely, speak a specialized language, live in ... er.
Authority can be faked. That's why impersonating a police officer is a crime. Sometimes the outward appearances of authority can be deceiving.
Envy not success, nor pity failure, for you know not what is success or failure in the soul's reckoning.
My whole outlook on life is, never judge a book by its cover.
