50 First Impression Quotes About the Quick Judgements People Make When Meeting New People

These first impression quotes show how quickly people make a judgment of others.

People want to be able to quickly categorize others, so when they meet new people, they try to determine how they feel about them based on a number of factors:

• Appearance – Are you well groomed with ironed clothes, or are you more carefree with unruly hair and mismatched clothes?
• Confidence – Confident people can be easier to talk to as someone in their head can struggle to hold a conversation.
• Body language – People with defensive postures are more challenging to approach.
• Language – You might use foul language or crude jokes with your close friends, but it can be off-putting to someone that just met you.
• Punctuality – If someone is late and wastes another person’s time, that is a bad first impression.

Take a few minutes to read these first impression quotes and see if you can relate to them.

Top First Impression Quotes

Here are some of the top quotes about making first impressions.

1. “First feelings are always the most natural.” — Louis XIV

2. “A good first impression can work wonders.” — J.K. Rowling

3. “With me, it’s always about first impressions.” — Billy Zane

4. “You know who makes a great first impression? Liars.” — Daniel Tosh

5. “First impressions never have a second chance.” — Charles R. Swindoll

Related: Short Inspirational Quotes

6. “Don’t second guess your professional first impression.” — Mitch Miles

7. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” — Will Rogers

8. “In difficult circumstances, always act on first impressions.” — Leo Tolstoy

9. “It is sometimes difficult to get rid of first impressions.” — Sherrilyn Kenyon

10. “Go out of your way to make an outstanding first impression.” — Robert Cheeke

Importance of First Impression Quotes

Learn more about why first impressions matter so much to people.

11. “If you want to make a good first impression, smile at people.” — Guy Kawasaki

12. “Two things remain irretrievable: time and a first impression.” — Cynthia Ozick

13. “First impressions die slowly; bad impressions take even longer.” — Joseph Heller

14. “My first impression of people are invariably right. Right, people.” — Oscar Wilde

15. “A good first impression starts on the inside, not on the outside.” — Darren Hardy

16. “Your first impression of a thing sets up your subsequent beliefs.” — Daniel Kahneman

17. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” — Maya Angelou

18. “You only have one first chance to make one first impression that lasts a lifetime.” — Nas

19. “It’s only at the first encounter that a face makes its full impression on us.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

20. “The first impression is the truth, and all that follows is merely the excuse of memory.” — Andrew Crumey

Don’t Focus on First Impression Quotes

Some people believe first impressions are overrated, as shown in the following quotes.

21. “First impressions are always unreliable.” — Franz Kafka

22. “Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe that it’s enough.” — Robert Heller

23. “Your initial opinion on just about anything may change over time.” — Daniel Handler

24. “Realize the value of putting down your first impression quickly.” — Charles Webster Hawthorne

25. “I influence anybody who is able to get through the chaos of my first impression.” — Gary Vaynerchuk

26. “I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong.” — Daniel Handler

27. “First impressions are rarely worth preserving. Men typically fall short of our expectations.” — Renate Linnenkoper

28. “People seeking to control others almost always present the image of a nice person in the beginning.” — Gavin de Becker

29. “Almost everyone will make a good first impression, but only a few will make a good lasting impression.” — Sonya Parker

30. “First impression is unfair because a first impression of somebody is guarded, and you don’t know the person.” — Frank Oz

More First Impression Quotes Showing Different Perspectives

These quotes show there’s a wide range of opinions on the role that a first impression plays in life.

31. “The first impression is always the right one. I rarely change my mind upward about people.” — Hunter S. Thompson

32. “People sometimes talk about the power of first impressions, and believe me, there is truth to it.” — Ann Brashares

33. “First impressions are often signals from the deep that we should credit oftener than we do.” — Katherine Anne Porter

34. “It’s pretty simple, pretty obvious: that people’s first impressions of people are really a big mistake.” — Vincent D’Onofrio

35. “First impressions matter. Experts say we size up new people in somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes.” — Elliott Abrams

36. “Don’t decide on a dog based on looks either, much like with people, looks and first impressions can be deceiving.” — Elizabeth Holmes

37. “Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.” — Dalai Lama

38. “A stunning first impression was not the same thing as love at first sight. But surely it was an invitation to consider the matter.” — Lois McMaster Bujold

39. “Never forget that you only have one opportunity to make a first impression – with investors, with customers, with PR, and with marketing.” — Natalie Massenet

40. “Each of us is full of too many wheels, screws, and valves to permit us to judge one another on a first impression or by two or three external signs.” — Anton Chekhov

Additional First Impression Quotes

Here are several more quotes about making first impressions for you to think about and reflect on.

41. “No great through, no great object, satisfies the mind at first view, nor at the last.” — Abel Stevens

42. “Design is how you make your first impression with your consumers. Make sure it is a lasting one.” — Jay Samit

43. “You’ll simply have to hope your first impression sells. So take the plunge and don’t you doubt.” — Amalgam Effect

44. “A firm, hearty handshake gives a good first impression, and you’ll never be forgiven if you don’t live up to it.” — P. J. O’Rourke

45. “To find out your real opinion of someone, judge the impression you have when you first see a letter from them.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

46. “We don’t know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don’t always appreciate their fragility.” — Malcolm Gladwell

47. “The strangest part about being famous is you don’t get to give first impressions anymore. Everyone already has an impression of you before you meet them.” — Kristen Stewart

48. “There’s no first impressions anymore. You go to a job interview, and they’ll probably Google you. It’s a shame—people should play it a little closer to the chest as far as what information they release to the world.” — Patrick Stump

49. “People tend to hold on to their first impressions—that’s why those first descriptions can be so important. You don’t even necessarily look at people that carefully after a while; you just hold on to that early impression.” — Miranda July

50. “In every man, there are two minds that work side by side, the one checking the other; thus emotion stands against reason, intellect corrects passion, and first impressions act a little, but very little, before quick reflection.” — Ford Madox Ford

How to Make a Good First Impression

Making a good first impression is very important as someone will quickly categorize you, and it will be hard to change their thoughts.

Here are some ways to make a good first impression:

• Smile: Smiling helps put others at ease
• Be on time: Being late is hard to overcome when you first meet someone
• Be confident and positive: This is your chance to be yourself and be proud of being you
• Be courteous: Listen well and respond to the other person

Share these first impression quotes with your family and friends, and post any comments about first impressions in the comment section below.