Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Apparel
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.
Shakespeare.—Hamlet, Act I. Scene 3. (Polonius to Laertes.)
A civil habit oft covers a good man.
Beaumont and Fletcher.—Beggar’s Bush, Act II. Scene 3.
A loyal bosom in a garb uncouth.
Pye.—Alfred, Book II. Line 558.
As the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,
So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
Shakespeare.—Taming of the Shrew, Act IV. Scene 3. (Petruchio to Catherine.)
Through tatter’d clothes small vices do appear;
Robes and furr’d gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;
Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw doth pierce it.
Shakespeare.—King Lear, Act IV. Scene 6. (Lear to Gloster.)
Marry, come up, sir, with your gentle blood!
Here’s a red stream beneath this coarse blue doublet,
That warms the heart as kindly as if drawn
From the far source of old Assyrian kings.
Scott.—Fortunes of Nigel, Chapter XXXI.
Opinion’s but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit by the inward man.
Shakespeare.—Pericles, Act II. Scene 2. (Simonides to the Lords.)
How greatest geniuses oft lie concealed.
Plautus.—Captivi, Act I. Scene 2. (Riley.)