External appearances
What do you feel when a handsome gentleman or a beautiful lady passes by? Then how about a fat short person wearing a dirty shirt? You feel differently? Yes, most people do. It’s very common for people to judge a person by external appearance, because it’s easy and direct, and it’s instinctive. Appearance is a very important aspect of a person and reflects one’s personalities. Sometimes you can tell the person’s characteristics from his appearance. However, in most cases, you cannot tell exactly what the person is like just from the external appearance, and ethically, we should not judge a person just by one glance at his external appearance.
“Beauty and beast” and “Snow white and seven dwarves” are two stories that are almost known by everyone. Although there are fables, there are deep meanings inside them. What you can learn from them is that people that are not so good-looking can be very good people internally. And actually there are tons of examples in reality. Napoleon is a very short guy, but he was one of the most famous people in the history. Theodore Roosevelt, former US president during World War II, is handicapped; but he is one of the most successful presidents in American history. So how can you tell about the people from their external appearance?
Moreover, there are other undeniable facts that show that a beautiful person may be rotten inside. There are many prostitutes on the busy streets. It’s obviously that they are very beautiful, but are they really righteous people? A beautiful appearance is a good thing, but a righteous heart is more valuable. Finally, as we can see, it’s out of question that we should not judge people just from their external appearance. The most important standard is their internal personality.
Lincoln, one of the greatest American presidents, was said to be very bad looking. Once when his rival accused him to be a “two sided” person, Lincoln replied by saying to the audience, “If I had another face, would I wear this one?” Now what we remember about Lincoln is his character, his deeds, his contribution to the country, no one would care about what he looked like.
I agree with the title statement because a person’s inner quality is much more important than his external appearances. Whether a person looks good or bad cannot be decided by himself. A man’s external appearances are born and generally cannot be changed. But everyone can improve his inner quality by his own efforts. By reading books, learning from others and working hard, we can make progress and achieve success. It was said that Napoleon was very short, but he was respected and admired by people as an outstanding military and political leader.
It is the dream of every man to have a pretty wife, yet it is also widely acknowledged that a beautiful woman does not necessarily equal a good wife.
Many men would rather choose a woman with a common face than a good-looking one. Because they know that the virtue of a woman is more important than her outer appearance. A great deal of couples who go hand in hand for their life attribute their happy marriage to loving the other’s inner quality instead of loving a pretty face. In business, a boss would never judge his employees by their external appearances; instead what he concerns would be their capability, their assiduity, and their performance. A person with bad appearances but good performance will more likely be promoted than another one with good appearances but bad performance.
Above all, if a person has good appearances, he should not rely on them because he will unlikely achieve success if he does not work hard. However, on the other hand, if he looks bad, he should not feel depressed because he can make others respect him through his own efforts.
