handsome is as handsome does

[handsome is as handsome does] {informal} A person must act well and generously so that he will be truly worth respecting. — A proverb.

/Everyone thinks that Bon is a very handsome boy, but he is very mean too. Handsome is as handsome does./

Compare: FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE PINE BIRDS.

Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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