“Not all can be friars, and many are those who wear the habit of a saint while the devil hides beneath.”Miguel de Cervantes · Don Quijote · 1615 · Partea I, capitolul 30
The robe is easiest to wear for those with nothing beneath it.
Cervantes, who saw the ecclesiastical and social hypocrisy of his age, warns that the robe does not make the monk. The mechanism is the false signal: the costume of virtue is easy to wear precisely for those who lack the virtue, because it brings them advantages. Don Quijote is full of characters who preach honesty and practice deceit. The modern example is the influencer who displays generosity for the camera while his employees go unpaid.
Why it matters It is a useful lens for judging people by consistent deeds rather than public gestures of virtue.