Don’t be Fooled by Appearances

Do not let superficial realities and appearances lead you into hastily assigning blame or lavishing praise. If you want your judgment to be balanced and true, you must look deeply below the surface of things. Francesco Guicciardini

It can be a mistake to act on the first impression of a situation or incident. Most things are far different than they appear initially. You must realize that many acts are scripted or staged to mislead the public. Most people never take the time to look below the surface and find out exactly what’s what. They simply look at the superficial appearances and hastily assign blame or praise, as Guicciardini wrote. You never truly know the truth by accepting things as they are first presented to you; you have to look deeper.

Essentially, it is this attitude of simply accepting the superficial realities and appearances that leads to the lynch-mob mentality. A lynch-mob is never truly interested in finding out exactly what the facts are; they are simply acting out of an emotional response to initial appearances as they see them. If someone appears to be guilty, they act without any regard to the fact that they may not have all the evidence they need to make a true and balanced judgment concerning the situation in question.

This is the way of the common man — the unwise man. The wise man will take the time to look deep below the surface of things and find the truth. He never acts on assumptions. He realizes that the truth is hidden or manipulated by others with specific agendas, and that it will take some work to actually discover whether the information that he has is legitimate or not. Don’t be misled by the first appearance of things. Look below the surface and find the truth before you put your reputation on the line. Bohdi Sanders ~ excerpt from Defensive Living: The Other Side of Self-Defense available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EF7U8M. Signed copies are available from https://thewisdomwarrior.com.