Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation. Book VIII

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.  Mark Twain's Notebook

″“Today, we’ll hear the teachings from his mouth.” said Govinda. Siddhartha did not answer. He felt little curiosity for the teachings, he did not believe that they would teach him anything new, but he had, just as Govinda had, heard the contents of this Buddha’s teachings again and again, though these reports only represented second- or third-hand information. But attentively he looked at Gotama’s head, his shoulders, his feet, his quietly dangling hand, and it seemed to him as if every joint of every finger of this hand was of these teachings, spoke of, breathed of, exhaled the fragrant of, glistened of truth. This man, this Buddha was truthful down to the gesture of his last finger. This man was holy. Never before, Siddhartha had venerated a person so much, never before he had loved a person as much as this one.” Siddhartha

This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half. Animal Farm