Excerpt - In a culture obsessed with superficial appearances, our leaders should be those who can see beyond the surface. Judging a book by its cover is the job of the consumer, bet reading the book-pondering its contents and perhaps seeking to write new chapters-is the job of a leader.
Assignment: How important is it to look beyond superficial appearances? Write an essay in which you answer this question and discuss your point of view on the issue. Support your position logically with examples from literature, the arts, history, politics, science and technology, current events, or your experience or observation.
Without knowing what the book says, we know close to nothing about the book. Way too often do we let the cover of the book decide whether we will read the book or not. Which means that we are often let down by what we read because the only appealing thing about that particular book was the cover. And on the reverse side, we often miss the best books just because the cover isn't very pretty. Therefore I would say that it is definitely very important to look beyond superficial appearance.
Maybe one of the best real-life examples of this is in the workplace. One of my best friends is considered by his peers a "goth". He dyes his hair black, gauges his ears, has a nose piercing, a lip piercing, and an eyebrow piercing. But that doesn't change the fast that he is one of the hardest working, most dedicated people I know. But it does hinder him significantly while trying to find a job. I have seen him go into a store, ask for an application, and be told no. Right there, without knowing him at all, the manager rejected him for the way he looked. That person will never know this but he missed out on one of the best employees he would've ever had. And on the flip side of the, people get hired because they look nice, or suck up to someone, then become a waste of time, money, and effort to the employer.
There are many, many examples like this one, where people's choices are made on the cover of the book and end up being completely wrong. If people took the time to read into the book a little bit, or at least the back cover, I believe they would be much happier with their decisions a lot more often.
2 answers
"You can't tell a book by its cover." That is one of my grandmother's favorite sayings. Without knowing what the book says, people know almost nothing about the book. Very often, people let the cover of the book decide whether they will read the book or not. Sometimes people are let down by what they read because the only appealing thing about that particular book was the cover. On the other hand, people often miss the best books just because the cover isn't very pretty. People should look beyond the superficial.
It's still pretty general, but somewhat better.