Is beauty only skin deep?

I wrote this piece for a group of skin cancer sufferers...

They say beauty is only skin deep. That is true only by the most superficial definition of beauty.

True beauty comes from within. It is love and compassion and grace. It is class and dignity and character. It is strength and wisdom and humility. It shares, it gives, it cares.

Much time and money is spent in pursuit of external beauty, shallow beauty, skin-deep beauty. How much wiser we are when we pursue beauty of the heart and soul.

To strive for external beauty is to chase the wind. It is temporary, fleeting even.

And besides, it does not satisfy, for any relationship that is based on physical beauty is like a house built on shifting sand.

The greatest joys in life come from the best relationships. And the best relationships are those that are based on recognition and celebration of true , real, inner beauty.

No cancer grows on beauty of the heart, and beauty of the soul always ages gracefully.

Skin is only skin deep. True beauty, which comes from the center of our being, is of infinitely more value, for true beauty is who we really are.

True beauty lasts forever.