Mustaches

A man without a moustache is like a cup of tea without sugar. – English Proverb

The great ages of prose are the ages in which men shave. The great ages of poetry are those in which they allow their beards to grow. – Robert Lynd

Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind. – Bulgarian Proverb

It always seemed to me that men wore their beards, like they wear their neckties, for show. – D.H. Lawrence

[H]e hath a most remarkable Beard, the largest and blackest I ever saw. – Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, 1749

The discovery of a grey hair when you are brushing out your whiskers of a morning—first fallen flake of the coming snows of age—is a disagreeable thing…. – Alexander Smith, “An Essay on an Old Subject”

The care that we bestow on our person is a species of politeness towards others; thus it is that many persons shave some part of their beard, in order to unite freedom of toilette with an appearance of cleanliness and trimness. – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875

A particular face shows determination merely by the turn of the moustache; but the moustache is robbed of all its expression unless it be worn by itself. Accompanied by the other parts of the beard, it loses its originality, it ceases to be a marked characteristic of will or temper. – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875

Thus we have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male (such as the beard) disagreeable to nearly all the females—and there is more in that than you might suppose. – C.S. Lewis (Screwtape letter)

But he wore a moustache—a shaggy moustache too: nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style: the regular Satanic sort of thing—and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. – Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, 1843

There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard. – Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), translated from French

If you had half as much brains as you have beard, you would have looked before you leaped. – Aesop [Context note: The beard here mentioned is on a goat. The fox is speaking

Do you suppose that your beard creates brains and therefore you grow that fly-flapper? Take my advice and shave it off at once; for that beard is a creator of lice and not of brains. – Ammianus (2nd century A.D.), in The Greek Anthology, Volume IV, “Book XI: The Co

If you think that to grow a beard is to acquire wisdom, a goat with a fine beard is at once a complete Plato. – Lucian of Samosata, in The Greek Anthology, Volume IV, “Book XI: The Convivial a

For a healthy beard, be sure to brush it daily and take it for a walk every evening. – BeardGuru.com

[I]n bounded De Courci, hair and all! Cloak, hat, and hair were instantly thrown aside, and a smooth, young, laughing face revealed itself from behind whiskers, moustaches, imperials, and goatee. – T.S. Arthur, “Marrying a Count,” Off-Hand Sketches, A Little Dashed with Humour,

Your beard never stops growing. It never gives up on you, so never give up on your beard. – Author Unknown

A man without a beard is like a lion without a mane. – Dutch proverb

The little white goatee that stuck out from the side of his chin was as crooked as his temper. – Margaret Sutton Briscoe, “The Price of Peace,” Jimty, and Others, 1897

To draw it to a fine point, as was done under the Empire… is to give the face of the wearer a factitious and evanescent expression, since the points cannot be kept stiff without the use of a cosmetic, easily detected and soon melted. – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875