Usage of the srtucture "not so much ... as"

[Edison_Chen_e_c]

She did not so much wake up as explode out of bed. (verb phrase)
It is not so much that I dislike her as that I'm just not interested. (noun clause)

I can understand the sentences above, yet can't make out the followings...

It wasn't so much his appearance I liked as his personality.
I don't know the function "I liked" marked red. Dose it mean "I like not so much his appearance as his personality." ? Would you help me, please.

The true meaning of life lies not so much in the length as in the value. (prep. phrase)
The true meaning of life lies in not so much the length as the value. (noun)
Are they both correct?

Thanks in advance.

[Edison_Chen_e_c]

any idea?

[Elvis]