Definitions HQ

Physiognomy (n.) sets ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠out to recognize not the murderer or the thief but the capacity to be one.

Physiognomy (n.) laws ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠(n.) are on a par with the dealer's 'It always rains during our annual fair' and the housewife's 'and every time I dry my washing'.

Physiognomy (n.) earns ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a box on the ear from every honest fellow to the end of time who is told 'you act like an honest man, but your face tells me you are a rogue'.

Physiognomy (n.) fails ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠because every gesture betrays the subject it should reveal — there is no proper signifier of the subject; so Hegel passes to the skull, which signifies nothing and simply is.

Physiognomy (n.) could ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠never take a man's measure for good: it would only need a courageous resolve on his part to make himself incomprehensible again for a thousand years.