Judge Reality, Not Appearance

Men in general judge more from
appearances than from reality.
All men have eyes, but few have
the gift of penetration.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them.

- Alan Watts

The work of science is to substitute facts for appearances,
and demonstrations for impressions.
- John Ruskin

There are none so blind as those who will not see.
- John Heywood (also attributed to the later Matthew Henry, and others)

(based on Jeremiah 5:21)

Trust not too much to appearances.
- Virgil

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
- Henry David Thoreau

Hope and Fear Cloud Our Vision.

We do not always see what is before our face -
sometimes we see what we hope to see,
or what we fear we will see.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Art of Seeing

Listen, Really Listen

What We Perceive

Observe Life