Appreciate the worth of the person inside, not what’s outside
- March 12th, 2010
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Dressing up and looking good is fun and to some extent, it appeals to the vanity in us, however, I could never comprehend the incessant demand for certain dress codes at work and even at some social functions.
Let me share some thoughts taken from Henry David Thoreau in his book “Walden”:
“I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. If there is not a new man, how can the new clothes be made to fit? If you have any enterprise before you, try it in your old clothes. All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be.”
“Let him who has work to recollect that the object of clothing is, first, to retain the vital heat, and secondly, in this state of society, to cover nakedness, and he may judge how much of any necessary or important work may be accomplished without adding to his wardrobe…”
“…no man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet I am sure that there is a greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience…”
“I sometimes try my acquaintances by such tests as this: who could wear a patch or two extra seams only, over the knee? Most behave as if they believed that their prospects for life would be ruined if they should do it. It would be easier for them to hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon [pants]…”
“Often if an accident happens to a gentleman’s legs, they can be mended; but if a similar accident happens to the legs of his pantaloons [pants], there is no help for it; for he considers, not what is truly respectable, but what is respected.”
How often have we allowed fashion to dictate to us who we are? How often have we let ourselves be defined by the dress codes laid down by the corporation, by society? And how often have we taken a stand to be comfortable with what we wear instead of conforming to norms that we have no clue what they stand for?
More importantly, do we judge our self-worth and that of others by the clothes we wear? Or, do we see beyond the facade and appreciate the inner beauty of the person?
Align yourself with organizations, communities and friends who place greater value on who you are rather than what you wear.
