handsome is as handsome does

Idioms  

1. How one acts is more important than how one looks. For example, He may be homely, but he's the kindest man I've ever met—handsome is as handsome does. This expression already appeared in John Ray's 1670 collection of proverbs.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

handsome is as handsome does

‘But handsome is as handsome does, as we say in the Shire; and I daresay we shall all look much the same after lying for days in hedges and ditches.’

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

It is pleasing to add that to this beautiful breed the phrase "handsome is as handsome does" applies in full measure.

From Dogs and All about Them by Robert Leighton

But handsome is as handsome does, and rose-beetle causes more damage than her clumsy cousin, for Rose feeds on rose-bushes as well as on fruit trees.

From Little Busybodies The Life of Crickets, Ants, Bees, Beetles, and Other Busybodies by Jeannette Augustus Marks

I've knowed poor-spirited vessels, and vessels that was just ornery and mean; but 't is handsome is as handsome does with the Mary Sands.

From The Wooing of Calvin Parks by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards

Handsome enough, your Honor," he said, "unless handsome is as handsome does.

From To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston