The Face

"God has given you one face, and you make yourself another."

William Shakespeare

I never agreed with Shakespeare more than I do now. God sculptured an "innocent face" for all homo sapiens. Just take a look at an infant's face and you'll know what I mean. The face of an infant is always innocent. That is because he trusts everyone and loves everyone. He is yet to come across deceit, hatred, jealousy , ego and the many other darker vices of life. As he grows older and learns from his experiences his face changes. 

I am not talking about the changes brought about by age. I am talking about the "quality" of the face. I described the infant's face as an "innocent one". Innocence is his quality. We humans have far more keener senses and sound instinct than most of us credit ourselves with. The moment we look someone in the face we form an opinion about the person in our subconscious. This opinion is free from any bias due to the person's attire or any knowledge about his history. I am not saying that Sherlock Holmes lies dormant inside all of us. We all know that looks can be deceptive. A murderer may have a cherub-like face and an altruist may have a very repulsive face. After all its what we do that defines us and not our face.

But the face is how we are known. Just look around yourself and you'll find a different quality in each face. An honest face, a dishonest face, a cruel face, an ancient face, an expressionless face, and so on. The look on the face also creates an impression. A smiling face, a sad face, a lonely face and face which give you a cold calculating look ( The one described in almost all thriller novels) Each face creates an impression in your mind. The real person may be much more different than that impression but you'll only find out when you interact. My point is what you are inside is reflected on your face. Some people hide it by wearing a mask. Whatever it is the face we see is not the one that God gave man, but what the man sculptured for himself by becoming what he is through his actions.