An ape's an ape, a varlet's a varlet,
Though they be clad in silk or scarlet. [ Proverb ]

The fairest silk is the soonest stained. [ Proverb ]

Silk doth quench the fire in the kitchen. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. [ Proverb ]

His dress was a volcano of silk with lava buttons. [ Sydney Smith ]

It is much like a blacksmith with a white silk apron.. [ Proverb ]

We are all Adam's children; but silk makes the difference. [ Proverb ]

A woman's heart is as intricate as a raveled skein of silk. [ Dumas, Pere ]

All things thrive with him; he eats silk, and voids velvet. [ Proverb ]

You may keep wool till it is dirt, and flax till it is silk. [ Proverb ]

Oppose kindness to perverseness. The heavy sword will not cut soft silk; by using sweet words and gentleness you may lead an elephant with a hair. [ Saadi ]

The human mind is to be treated like a skein of ravelled silk, where you must cautiously secure one free end before you can make any progress in disentangling it. [ Scott ]

Let women paint their eyes with tints of chastity, insert into their ears the word of God, tie the yoke of Christ around their necks, and adorn their whole persons with the silk of sanctity and the damask of devotion. [ Tertullian ]