It’s popularly believed that all that glitters is not gold. Obviously, there’s a grain of truth in these words and I am inclined to think that we shouldn’t judge merely by the outwardly appearance, however overall image of a person does include it. Some may argue, that it is easier said than done, as we are all humans and it’s natural for us to presume automatically certain aspects about a person’s upbringing, occupation or character, just by their image. What is more, our preconceptions about people inevitably alter the way we behave towards them. The thing that is worth being borne in mind: of course, first impression should be taken into account and, ideally, as Chekhov once wrote: “Everything should be beautiful in a person: face, clothes, spirit and mind”, but nothing is perfect in the world, so the final judgment should be based on people’s actions, on who they really are – their content. Being unappealing to the eye, the thing may be very valuable, even priceless, if to speak about person – he or she may have a heart of gold - you can never tell, that’s why be careful not to underestimate.
There are many different ways to interpret this wise proverb. The one I am in favour of: we should not criticize other people if we ourselves have flaws. In other words, it’s about being hypocrit like 'the pot calling the kettle black', who unintentionally put that bad criticism and the blame back on himself.
To some extent, this reminds me of a famous saying in the Bible that preaches “those without sin may cast the first stone.” Only those who are faultless have the right to pass judgment upon others. In fact, we are all living in so-called ‘glass houses’ with our own weeknesses and vulnerability, clearly, we should be very mindful before ‘throwing stones’ - before we criticize others for the same mistakes that we might be guilty of.
This proverb is countless times exemplified in the world, so it seems to me that it’s sensible to follow such principle: do to others as you would have them do to you, otherwise – your glass house will shatter.
I firmly believe this quote to be true and practical. This thought was also reflected in Skovoroda’s philosophy of work and is still relevant today as it may be observed in many facets of our life. It always takes less efforts to finish something when several people pitch in to get it done and, actually, it’s a basement of success. That’s to say, the more active people are involved (the more the merrier!), the easier and quicklier everything will be done. In practice, it is the concept of teamwork – team spirit in combination with many hands work wonders and great things can get done in an amazingly short amount of time. While there are people who still agree with the proverb ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’ which contradicts the one mentioned above, I am of the opinion that the work in a group is done more efficiently simply because it’s a group effort and if we get our acts together, it always goes a long way. In addition, everyone is unique and has his or her own endowments and when working together, we all can share the opinions and experience which will definitely result in the quality and productivity of work.
