ProverbHuman NatureEnglish origin

It's not the gay coat that makes the gentleman.

Meaning: Fine clothing cannot manufacture character; true gentility emerges from conduct and virtue, not appearance.

Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.

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