Sec: Don't judge a book by its cover

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is such a common idiom.  It means that we should not form opinion of people or things just on the surface but we must look deeper instead.  However, how many of us actually practice it?  Not many, I assume.  The reason is partly because we form ideas of people within a very short time.  In the first few minutes, we would probably have decided whether we like what we see – the dressing, the accent, the looks and so forth.

Yet, by judging too superficially and quickly, we usually do not form accurate opinions of people.  We may actually lose many potential friendships just because the person that we have met do not impress us enough.  Nice but ordinary people just come and leave our lives just because they do not look nice, pretty, cool or sophiscated in the first place.  Take a look at Susan Boyle who first appeared on ‘British Got Talent’.  By her frumpy appearance , her age and her rather rotund figure, we would probably have dismissed her as a dreamer who wanted to be a star. How could this woman ever sing?  However, when she started to sing, her most endearing voice had captured the audience’s attention.  This is one clear example on why we should not judge a book by its cover.

Besides judging people too quickly and forming a shallow impression of others, judging others simply by their appearance also mean that we are placing greater importance on their appearance than their inner character.  We often hear people say, “Look at her dressing.  I wish I can dress like her,” but we usually do not think about whether that person’s character would have a positive influence in our lives.  We only want to look good on the outside but looking good on the inside is of far more importance than the outside.  Friends with upright character can move us in the positive direction.  They make us a better person inside us.  Friends who only look good on the outside but not on the inside may influence us to be materialistic and cause us to pretend to be someone that we are not.  Even if we manage to get a job because we dress well, we may not stay in that job because of our negative character traits.

Finally, the fear of rejection and the desire for acceptance are so powerful that people would do anything to their appearance to get people to like them or at least, not to dislike them.  By caring too much on our outer appearance, we would end up becoming overly zealous about our looks and dressing.  Many Koreans, including men, indulge in beauty to such an extent that they would go under knife so that they could like a certain actor or actress.  Millions of won are spent just to look good.  Look at Michael Jackson.  He was so particular about his looks that he had many plastic surgeries to bleach his skin, alter his nose and so forth.  Sadly, though many may like his music, not many can accept his altered look.   How good it would be if our judgement of people is not based on looks but the heart?

If this world can really learn not to judge the book by its covers, people would be able to befriend friends who have a positive influence in their lives even if they may not look good.  Our character would also be moulded positively and finally, we would live a nicer place where friendships are made  based on character rather than looks. Wouldn’t it be a better place to live in then?

Sad Poem
http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/sad/poems.php?id=782585

Articles
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-3456844.html
http://www.xomba.com/dont_judge_book_its_cover
http://articles.mibba.com/People/822/Dont-Judge-A-Book-By-Its-Cover-Stereotyping