Sirach 11
The Deceptiveness of Appearances
The wisdom of a humble man will lift up his head, and will seat him among the great. Do not praise a man for his good looks, nor loathe a man because of his appearance. The bee is small among flying creatures, but her product is the best of sweet things. Do not boast about wearing fine clothes, nor exalt yourself in the day that you are honored; for the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works are concealed from men. Many kings have had to sit on the ground, but one who was never thought of has worn a crown. Many rulers have been greatly disgraced, and illustrious men have been handed over to others.
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
William Shakespeare
Why is appearance important in society?
It boosts self-confidence and self-esteem. One feels very reassured when other people admire them and prefer to associate with them as they find them very attractive. An attractive physical appearance enhances personality.
I have come across several wealthy acquaintances and friends and their down to earth behaviour has always made me respect them which they truly deserve.
There are also with a 'poor thing' tag and we feel sorry for them and do whatever we can to put them at ease. While abroad, we had a next door neighbour with his wife and three kids, whose appearance being drab, dingy and depressing. Their looks including their living conditions were extremely pathetic. Looks sure can be deceiving as we learnt later, they were an absolute miserly lot who loved to live like beggars though the gentleman earned more than enough to feed an army. He saved what he earned for a rainy day perhaps and loved living on charity. Without spending a penny he earned, all the kids attended best schools and universities with the help of philanthropic organisations and later settled in the West. Such people make us think twice before extending any help to the real needy ones.
My favourite hobby is reading and I am a sucker for quotes. Here are a few for collection 🤗
Trust not too much to appearances.~ Virgil
Beauty is produced by the pleasing appearance and good taste of the whole, and by the dimensions of all the parts being duly proportioned to each other. ~ Vitruvius
Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person. ~ Chanakya
The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart. ~ St. Jerome
We should look to the mind, and not to the outward appearance. ~ Aesop
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. ~ Khalil Gibran
People who don’t have it think beauty is a blessing, but actually it sets you apart.~ Candice Bergen
The Lord prefers common looking people. That is why he made so many of them.~ Abraham Lincoln
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
Appearance rules the world.~ Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
When you look in the mirror, your ‘appearance,’ that outer you, is what you see first. ~ Teri Hatcher
You mirror what the world mirrors to you. ~ Jennifer Lopez
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
People that seem so glorious are all show; underneath they are like everyone else.~ Euripides
The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds. ~ Jawaharlal Nehru
You are only what you are when no one is looking.~ Robert C. Edwards
We look into mirrors but we only see the effects of our times on us – not our effects on others. ~ Pearl Bailey
If one wishes to become rich they must appear rich.~ Oliver Goldsmith
Nothing so much prevents our being natural as the desire to seem so.~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld
First appearance deceives many.~ Ovid
What lies behind appearance is usually another appearance. ~ Mason Cooley
Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.~ Aesop
Think not I am what I appear.~ Lord Byron
Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance. ~ Jean de La Fontaine
Neglect of appearance becomes men.~ Ovid
Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The biggest problem with every art is by the use of appearance to create a loftier reality. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance~ Henry Ward Beecher
Stop saying these negative things about yourself. Look in the mirror and find something about yourself that’s positive and celebrate that! ~ Tyra Banksia
We only see what we want to see; we only hear what we want to hear. Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe. ~ Don Miguel Ruiz
You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul. ~ George Bernard Shaw
Your best appearance may be what is most remembered about you; don’t leave home without it.~ Clarence E. Hodges
I’m a mirror. If you’re cool with me, I’m cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you don’t like what you see, then you’ve done something. If I’m standoffish, that’s because you are. ~ Jay-Z
Shadows cannot see themselves in the mirror of the sun. ~ Evita Peron
When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.~ Richard C. Cushing
Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter? ~ Pablo Picasso
A beautiful woman should break her mirror early. ~ Baltasar Gracian
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you’ll start to see a big difference in your life. ~ Yoko Ono
Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them … there is nothing.~ Jean-Paul Sartre
Mirrors are ice which do not melt: what melts are those who admire themselves in them. ~ Paul Morand
If you begin to think you’re something you’re not, you’re looking in the wrong mirror. ~ Eugene Cernan
Monkeys are superior to men in this: when a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey. ~ Malcolm de Chazal
Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.~ Phaedrus
You’re only as good as your last haircut.~ Susan Lee
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
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success. ~ Christopher Lasch
If you find the mirror of the heart dull, the rust has not been cleared from its face. ~ Rumi
Beauty is truth’s smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
He that has a great nose, thinks everybody is speaking of it.~ Thomas Fuller
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. ~ Aristotle
No one is so miserable as the poor person who maintains the appearance of wealth. ~ Charles Spurgeon
Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. ~ Ernest Holmes
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~ Edith Wharton
Hold up a mirror and ask yourself what you are capable of doing, and what you really care about. Then take the initiative – don’t wait for someone else to ask you to act. ~ Sylvia Earle
Things are seldom what they seem.~ W. S. Gilbert
A sister is both your mirror – and your opposite. ~ Elizabeth Fishel
Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations. ~ Earl Nightingale
To establish yourself in the world a person must do all they can to appear already established.~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld
A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Last but not the least:
Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only. ~ Samuel Butler
Good night friends 😇
