A hand mirror leans beside a weathered wooden box on a moss-green surface.

Original artwork, not a still

Maya Angelou

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The advice is to take someone's revealed character seriously. What they show through their conduct should carry more weight than the excuses we might make for them. Believing that evidence early can mean accepting something we would rather not see.

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