Do n't judge a book by its cover - Wikipedia Do n't judge a book by its cover The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia 's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond its mere trivial mention. If notability can not be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources : `` Do n't judge a book by its cover '' -- news newspapers books scholar JSTOR ( July 2017 ) For the Desperate Housewives episode, see You Ca n't Judge a Book by Its Cover ( Desperate Housewives ). For the song popularized by Bo Diddley, see You Ca n't Judge a Book by the Cover. The English idiom `` do n't judge a book by its cover '' is a metaphorical phrase which means `` you should n't prejudge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone ''. For example `` That man may look very small and insignificant, but do n't judge a book by its cover -- he 's a very powerful man in his circle ''. Early reference In George Eliot 's The Mill on the Floss ( 1860 ), Mr Tulliver uses the phrase in discussing Daniel Defoe 's The History of the Devil, saying how it was beautifully bound. The preceding version was then publicised by the 1946 murder mystery novel by Edwin Rolfe ( de ) and Lester Fuller, Murder in the Glass Room, in the form of `` You can never tell a book by its cover. '' See also All that glitters is not gold Bookbinding Face value Fahrenheit 451 Prima facie References Jump up ^ `` do n't judge a book by its cover ''. TheIdioms.com. This vocabulary - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don%27t_judge_a_book_by_its_cover&oldid=828293812 '' Categories : English - language idioms Metaphors referring to objects Vocabulary and usage stubs Hidden categories : Articles with topics of unclear notability from July 2017 All articles with topics of unclear notability Interlanguage link template link number All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 1 March 2018, at 18 : 42. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who said don't judge a book by its cover
Answer: George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss