From William Shakespeare (1564–1616), English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both the greatest writer in the English language, and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist, The Merchant of Venice (1599):
So may the outward shows be least themselves:
The world is still deceived with ornament.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?
There is no vice so simple but assumes
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.
