По одёжке встречают, по уму провожают
With accent marks:
По одёжке встреча́ют, по уму́ провожа́ют.
Translation:
You are greeted by your clothes but bid farewell by your mind.
Meaning:
We all tend to judge others and the first judgement comes from how people look (their clothes, manners). Moreover, we often automatically ascribe qualities to attractive people that they may not have: we consider them smarter, more intelligent, more interesting than someone else whose appearance is not so expressive. But behind a beautiful picture you can not hide emptiness, narrow-mindedness and quarrelsome character. So you are greeted by your clothes, but it's your mind and intelligence define how people will say goodbye to you.
Other Russian proverbs
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Water wears away a stone.
-
Всё хорошо, что хорошо кончается
All is well that ends well.
-
Everything has its time.
-
Beast runs towards the hunter.
-
За что боролись, на то и напоролись
We got what we fought for.
-
The one who walks will go through.
-
A well-fed man does not understand a starving one.
-
The forbidden fruit is sweet.
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