Beauty: Inner or Outer?

We often hear people say beauty is skin deep and a person should be judged by her inner beauty. .

Well, ideally, yes.... if we live in a perfect world. But since we know that nothing is perfect in this world, then most of the time, people are judged by what can be seen from the outer layer first.

Somehow, even though we were taught not to judge a book by its cover, many people still tend to do that. I don't blame them. I used to be like that too (when I was much much younger). You see, I grew up reading fairy tales and stories about princesses who are described as beautiful and princes who are charming and handsome. And in all the stories, they live happily ever after.

So I thought, well.. if you are beautiful, then you must be nice and kind hearted too.

I found out much later that it is not always the truth. There are many people who are not blessed with a pretty face but they have heart of an angel. Likewise, some people can be very pretty at the outside but at the same time they can be evil hearted.

But then whether we like it or not, first impression matters and if we happen to have outer beauty, then we pass the first hurdle.

Hmm.. no wonder people are going for plastic surgeries, liposuction, etc.

But really, I wonder why some people can be so shallow and look at the outer layer rather than the inner part, especially when it comes to relationship. A person can be very pretty or handsome but if we cannot have a decent conversation or cannot get along well with him or her, what's the point?

"When there is outer beauty, one’s mind is happy. When there is inner beauty one’s soul is happy. Only when there is a balance between these two can there be harmony at a place or between two hearts"