you can't judge a book by its cover

English

Alternative forms

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

Proverb

you can't judge a book by its cover

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

Translations

it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone

• Chinese: 不要以貌取人 (cmn)
• Croatian: ne sudi knjizi po koricama
• Danish: sku ikke hunden på hårene (da)
• Finnish: moni kakku päältä kaunis, (vaan on silkkoa sisältä)
• French: l’habit ne fait pas le moine
• Hebrew: אל תסתכל בקנקן, אלא במה שיש בו (he) (ál tistakél bakankán, éla b'má sheyésh bó)
• Italian: l’abito non fa il monaco
• Norwegian: man kan ikke dømme boken etter omslaget (no), man skal aldri skue hunden på hårene (no)

• Portuguese: não se pode julgar um livro pela capa
• Romanian: nu haina face pe om
• Russian: не суди о книге по обложке (ru) (n'e sudí o kníg'e po oblóžk'e)
• Scottish Gaelic: 's tric a bhios cridhe gheal ann an seiche dhonn
• Spanish: el hábito no hace al monje
• Swedish: man skall inte döma hunden efter håren, man ska inte döma boken efter omslaget
• Turkish: hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde (tr)