It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. — Aesop · Smartyfair

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

Aesopstoryteller · Ancient Greece (traditionally 6th century BC)Aesop is remembered as the storyteller behind hundreds of short fables — quick tales about animals like the tortoise and the hare that end with a lesson about life.5 quotes

Source foundIndividualityWisdomAncientAnimals

In plain words

Looking good is not the same as being good.

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Where these words come from

How sure this is: 82% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Aesop's Fables — The Jay and the Peacock.
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 20 August 2026Wikiquote sourced section, The Jay and the Peacock

Nothing made from these words yet — Storyfaire is where they get made.

More from Aesop

Slow and steady wins the race.

Aesop Union gives strength.

Aesop In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest.

Aesop No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

More on individuality

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Louisa May Alcott He who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self is not a scholar.

Zhuangzi Plato is my friend — Aristotle is my friend — but my greatest friend is truth.

Isaac Newton In the sciences the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man.

Galileo Galilei To be born in a duck's nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan's egg.

Hans Christian Andersen There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.

Buckminster Fuller