Topic 54 Appearance

Lincoln, one of the greatest American presidents, was said to be very bad looking. Once when his rival (соперник) accused him to be a "two sided" person, Lincoln replied by saying to the audience, "If I had another face, would I wear this one?" Now what we remember about Lincoln is his character, his deeds (дела), his contribution to the country, no one would care about what he looked like.

I agree with the title statement because a person's inner quality is much more important than his external appearances. Whether a person looks good or bad cannot be decided by himself. A man's external appearances are born and generally cannot be changed. But everyone can improve his inner quality by his own efforts. By reading books, learning from others and working hard, we can make progress and achieve success. It was said that Napoleon was very short, but he was respected and admired by people as an outstanding military and political leader. It is the dream of every man to have a pretty wife, yet it is also widely acknowledged that (широко признается, что) a beautiful woman does not necessarily equal a good wife.

They attributed their success to hard work. — Они приписали свой успех упорному труду.

Many men would rather choose a woman with a common face than a goodlooking one. Because they know that the virtue (целомудрие, качество) of a woman is more important than her outer appearance (внешний вид). A great deal of couples who go hand in hand (идут рука об руку) for their life attribute their happy marriage to loving the other's inner quality instead of loving a pretty face. In business, a boss would never judge his employees by their external appearances; instead what he concerns would be their capability (способность, возможность), their assiduity (усидчивость), and their performance. A person with bad appearances but good performance will more likely be promoted than another one with good appearances but bad performance.

Above all (главное, прежде всего), if a person has good appearances, he should not rely on them because he will unlikely achieve success if he does not work hard. However, on the other hand, if he looks bad, he should not feel depressed because he can make others respect him through his own efforts.