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

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