[hprotagonist]

“If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

Roald Dahl, "The Twits"

The accompanying illustration has stuck with me for going on 30 years now: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c9/45/2c/c9452c05e8c3e60455a3...

I have met my share of people who by rights ought to be physically attractive but are not, which also reminds me of Shelley: Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown/ And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command...

[mjw1007]

So if I see someone with a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and I don't perceive anything that gives me the impression of sunbeams shining out of their face, should I assume they have ugly thoughts rather than good ones?

[hprotagonist]

spend some time with them and find out!

“handsome is as handsome does” is at least as old as Chaucer.