you can't judge a book by its cover

Alternative forms

 * you can’t tell a book by its cover
 * don’t judge a book by its cover

Proverb

 * 1)  It is not possible to make reliable judgments about things or people by considering external appearances alone.

Synonyms

 * clothes don't make the man
 * the cowl does not make the monk
 * all that glitters is not gold
 * looks can be deceiving
 * appearances are deceptive
 * Don't just scratch the surface
 * Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.
 * One sees clearly only with the heart.

Antonyms

 * clothes maketh the man
 * fine feathers make fine birds

Translations

 * Arabic: لَا تَحْكُم عَلَى كِتَابِ مِِنْ غِلَافِهِ
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech: nesuď knihu podle obalu
 * Danish: man skal ikke skue hunden på hårene
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * Greek: τα φαινόμενα απατούν, το ράσο δεν κάνει τον παπά
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi: जाति ना पूछो साधु की; पूछ लीजिए ज्ञान
 * Hungarian: ne a borító alapján ítéld meg a könyvet
 * Icelandic: þú getur ekki rannsakað hund eftir hárinu
 * Irish: go minic bíonn croí geal i gcraiceann donn
 * Italian: l'abito non fa il monaco, non giudicare un libro dalla copertina, non giudicare dalle apparenze
 * Japanese: 看板に偽りなし
 * Lithuanian: nespręsk apie knygą iš viršelio
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: man kan ikke dømme boken etter omslaget,
 * Polish: nie oceniaj książki po okładce
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: nu haina îl face pe om
 * Russian: не суди́ о кни́ге по обло́жке
 * Scottish Gaelic: 's tric a bhios cridhe gheal ann an seiche dhonn
 * Serbo-Croatian: ne sudi knjizi po koricama
 * Slovak: nesúď knihu podľa obalu
 * Slovene: ne sodi knjige po platnicah
 * Spanish: el hábito no hace al monje
 * Swedish: man skall inte döma hunden efter håren, man ska inte döma boken efter omslaget
 * Tagalog: mapanlinlang ang panlabas na anyo
 * Turkish: hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde
 * Ukrainian: не судіть про книгу за її обкладинкою
 * Urdu: ذات نہ پوچھو سادھو کی؛ پوچھ لیجئے علم