Trust not too much to appearances.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
The world is governed more by appearances than by realities, so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
Never judge from appearances.
—Common Proverb
There are no greater wretches in the world than many of those whom people in general take to be happy.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Against the beautiful and the clever and the successful, one can wage a pitiless war, but not against the unattractive: then the millstone weighs on the breast.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of summer and winter seasons.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
Everybody has that thing where they need to look one way but they come out looking another way and that’s what people observe. You see someone on the street and essentially what you notice about them is the flaw. It’s just extraordinary that we should have been given these peculiarities. Something is ironic in the world and it has to do with the fact that what you intend never comes out like you intend it.
—Diane Arbus (1923–71) American Photographer
Appearance rules the world.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
‘Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
A hair in the head is worth two in the brush.
—Oliver Herford (1863–1935) American Writer, Artist, Illustrator
It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
There’s one thing about baldness, it’s neat.
—Don Herold (1889–1966) American Humorist, Writer, Illustrator, Cartoonist
The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Every person is responsible for his own looks after 40.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Looking the part helps get the chance to fill it. But if you fill the part, it matters not if you look it.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly. Ugliness is the measure of imperfection.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
Be not deceived with the first appearance of things, for show is not substance.
—English Proverb
How little do they see what really is, who frame their hasty judgment upon that which seems.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
Trust not to much to appearances.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
A good man often appears gauche simply because he does not take advantage of the myriad mean little chances of making himself look stylish. Preferring truth to form, he is not constantly at work upon the facade of his appearance.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Wide will wear, but tight will tear.
—Common Proverb
The best mirror is an old friend.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them … there is nothing.
—Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80) French Philosopher, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter, Political Activist
Great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
My breasts are beautiful, and I gotta tell you, they’ve gotten a lot of attention for what is relatively short screen time.
—Jamie Lee Curtis (b.1958) American Film Actress, Children’s Books Writer
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Never frown because you never know who might be falling in love with your smile.
—Unknown
I have told you of the Spaniard who always put on his spectacles when about to eat cherries, that they might look bigger and more tempting. In like manner I make the most of my enjoyments; and though I do not cast my cares away, I pack them in as little compass as I can, and carry them as conveniently as I can for myself, and never let them annoy others.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
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