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

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

From To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston

Mrs. MacCall said that "handsome is as handsome does."

From The Corner House Girls Growing Up What Happened First, What Came Next. And How It Ended by Grace Brooks Hill

She taught her that it isn't handsome is as handsome does, but the boots and shoes, after all.

From The Spread Eagle and Other Stories by Gouverneur Morris

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

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