APAD: Cold hands, warm heart

Meaning: A reserved exterior may disguise a kind hearted person.

 

Background: The earliest known use of this proverb was in Collectanea edited by

V.S. Lean - a collection of English and foreign proverbs published in Bristol,

England in 1903.

 

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I've met many people that fit that description.

 

My supervisor Mike in a Canadian university, for example, was not exactly an

extrovert. He rarely joked or tried to amuse. In a scheduled meeting, he kept a

straight face and focused on one subject at a time. With a calendar and a to-do

list, he operated by the clock to the minute. "A cpu on a 1/60 Hz signal," I

thought in the early days.

 

After the 2000 tech bust, some couldn't come back to finish school for lack of

funding, a topic brought up in a weekly GSA meeting. "It's the students' problem

and not my business" a professor said.

 

Mike, in his serene aplomb, retored: "A professor who doesn't think his

students' problem his business would soon run out of business." when I related

the story to him. Later, he sent me to Silicon Valley for an internship that

helped me complete study. He sure has the proverbial cold hands and a warm

heart.