--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A gift--its kind, its value and…" description: "\"A gift--its kind, its value and appearance; the silence or the pomp that attends it; the style in which it reaches you--may decide the dignity or vulga..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/johann-kaspar-lavater-1399_appearance_a-gift-its-kind-its-value-and-appearance_3148953.jpg" --- # A gift--its kind, its value and appearance; the silence or… ![“A gift--its kind, its value and appearance; the silence or the pomp that attends it; the style in which it reaches you--may decide the dignity or vulgarity of the giver.” quote by Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/johann-kaspar-lavater-1399_appearance_a-gift-its-kind-its-value-and-appearance_3148953.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/johann-kaspar-lavater-1399_appearance_a-gift-its-kind-its-value-and-appearance_3148953.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/johann-kaspar-lavater-1399_appearance_a-gift-its-kind-its-value-and-appearance_3148953.jpg) > “A gift--its kind, its value and appearance; the silence or the pomp that attends it; the style in which it reaches you--may decide the dignity or vulgarity of the giver.” [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The manner, presentation, and context of a gift shape how the giver is perceived, influencing whether they appear dignified or vulgar. **In simple terms:** How a gift is given matters more than its price. Key Takeaway Consider presentation when giving. Themes etiquette perception generosity Mood thoughtful reflective Type advice observational When to use this quote - weddings - business networking - personal milestones - charitable events Key Concepts social signaling status humility Questions to Reflect On - How does presentation affect your view of the giver? - What aspects of a gift convey respect? A Different Perspective If the gift is misaligned with the recipient’s values, it can backfire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Vulgarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulgarity/) ## Related quotes > [A gift of any kind is a considerable responsibility. It is a mystery in itself, something gratuitous and wholly undeserved, something whose real uses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/a-gift-of-any-kind-is-a-considerable-responsibility-it-is-a-mystery/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“I have nothing to give anyone, really. It’s the one gift I can give that has any kind of value. It makes me feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fisher-amelie/i-have-nothing-to-give-anyone-really-it-s-the-one-gift-i-can-give/) [Fisher Amelie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fisher-amelie/) > [When I found out that I could carry a tune, well, I came to realize that I had a gift, that it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-keel/when-i-found-out-that-i-could-carry-a-tune-well-i-came-to-realize/) [Howard Keel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-keel/) > [A gift, with a kind countenance, is a double present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-fuller/a-gift-with-a-kind-countenance-is-a-double-present/) [Thomas Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-fuller/) > [He whom common, gross, or stale objects allure, and when obtained, content, is a vulgar being, incapable of greatness in thought or action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/he-whom-common-gross-or-stale-objects-allure-and-when-obtained/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Godlessness invariably produces vulgarity. Civilization is the product of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/godlessness-invariably-produces-vulgarity-civilization-is-the-product/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [“She represents the beauty of the common people in all its vulgarity and provocativeness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-al-aswany/she-represents-the-beauty-of-the-common-people-in-all-its-vulgarity/) [Alaa Al Aswany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-al-aswany/) > [There is in the world only the choice between loneliness and vulgarity. All young people should be taught now to put up with loneliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/there-is-in-the-world-only-the-choice-between-loneliness-and/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Vulgarity is the conduct of other people, just as falsehoods are the truths of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/vulgarity-is-the-conduct-of-other-people-just-as-falsehoods-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Put your point across respectfully and convincingly. Those who become vulgar, angry or violent usually do not have a valid point to make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mufti-ismail-menk/put-your-point-across-respectfully-and-convincingly-those-who-become/) [Mufti Ismail Menk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mufti-ismail-menk/) > [It is the fine souls who serve us, and not what is called fine society. Fine society is only a self-protection against the vulgarities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-the-fine-souls-who-serve-us-and-not-what-is-called-fine-society/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A lot of warm vulgarity is incomparably preferable to a little bit of pinched niceness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-thomas/a-lot-of-warm-vulgarity-is-incomparably-preferable-to-a-little-bit-of/) [Caitlin Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-thomas/) > [For every one pupil who needs to be guarded against a weak excess of sensibility there are three who need to be awakened from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-every-one-pupil-who-needs-to-be-guarded-against-a-weak-excess-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marshall-harlan-ii/one-man-s-vulgarity-is-another-man-s-lyric/) [John Marshall Harlan II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marshall-harlan-ii/) > [In some sort of crude sense, which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatement can quite extinguish, the physicists have known sin; and this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/in-some-sort-of-crude-sense-which-no-vulgarity-no-humor-no/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) ## More by Johann Kaspar Lavater > [Neatness begets order; but from order to taste there is the same difference as from taste to genius, or from love to friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/neatness-begets-order-but-from-order-to-taste-there-is-the-same/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Habit is altogether too arbitrary a master for me to submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/habit-is-altogether-too-arbitrary-a-master-for-me-to-submit-to/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [The horse-laugh indicates brutality of character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-horse-laugh-indicates-brutality-of-character/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Don't speak evil of someone if you don't know for certain, and if you do know ask yourself, why am I telling it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/don-t-speak-evil-of-someone-if-you-don-t-know-for-certain-and-if-you/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Before thou callest a man hero or genius, investigate whether his exertion has features of indelibility; for all that is celestial, all genius, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/before-thou-callest-a-man-hero-or-genius-investigate-whether-his/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [“Si quieres ser sabio, aprende a interrogar razonablemente, a escuchar con atención, a responder serenamente y a callar cuando no tengas nada que decir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/si-quieres-ser-sabio-aprende-a-interrogar-razonablemente-a-escuchar/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [The creditor whose appearance gladdens the heart of a debtor may hold his head in sunbeams and his foot on storms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-creditor-whose-appearance-gladdens-the-heart-of-a-debtor-may-hold/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [The craftiest trickery are too short and ragged a cloak to cover a bad heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-craftiest-trickery-are-too-short-and-ragged-a-cloak-to-cover-a/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Who affects useless singularities has surely a little mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/who-affects-useless-singularities-has-surely-a-little-mind/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Who has a daring eye tell downright truths and downright lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/who-has-a-daring-eye-tell-downright-truths-and-downright-lies/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [True worth is as inevitably discovered by the facial expression, as its opposite is sure to be clearly represented there. The human face is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/true-worth-is-as-inevitably-discovered-by-the-facial-expression-as/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Fools learn nothing from wise men, but wise men learn much from fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/fools-learn-nothing-from-wise-men-but-wise-men-learn-much-from-fools/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Who will sacrifice nothing, and enjoy all, is a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/who-will-sacrifice-nothing-and-enjoy-all-is-a-fool/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [The procrastinator is not only indolent and weak, but commonly, false, too; most of the weak are false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-procrastinator-is-not-only-indolent-and-weak-but-commonly-false/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [You may tell a man thou art a fiend, but not your nose wants blowing; to him alone who can bear a thing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/you-may-tell-a-man-thou-art-a-fiend-but-not-your-nose-wants-blowing/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) [Explore all 245 Johann Kaspar Lavater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) ## More Appearance quotes > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I just worried about my weight. 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Art is first appearances, then meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-cannot-be-convinced-that-great-artists-are-moralists-art-is-first/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [I'm OK with my appearance. 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