Affectation is a greater enemy to the face than smallpox.

This English proverb belongs to a long tradition of moralizing sayings that contrast outward appearance with inward character. In early modern and eighteenth–nineteenth-century Britain, smallpox was a feared and common disease, notorious for leaving facial scarring; it therefore served as a vivid benchmark for anything that could “ruin” the face. The saying uses that shared cultural reference to argue that artificial manners—affected expressions, forced smiles, contrived “poses,” and insincere social performance—can make a person look worse than physical blemish. It circulated as a piece of folk wisdom rather than a line traceable to a single authorial text.

The proverb asserts that pretension and insincerity are more disfiguring than natural imperfections. “Affectation” suggests a performed self—speech, gestures, or facial expressions adopted to impress—so the “enemy to the face” is not literal disease but the way falseness distorts one’s features and repels others. By invoking smallpox, it heightens the contrast: even severe physical damage is less damaging to attractiveness than a habitual mask of vanity. The broader implication is ethical and social: authenticity and ease are forms of beauty, while self-conscious display corrodes both appearance and trust.

1) “Affectation is a greater enemy to the face than the small-pox.”
2) “Affectation is a greater enemy to the face than the smallpox.”