Motivational Quotes

Character

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

- Abraham Lincoln

Best Quotes about Character

Strong feelings do not necessarily make a strong character. The strength of a man is to be measured by the power of the feelings he subdues not by the power of those which subdue him.

William Carleton

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Michener, James A.

Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: initiative, imagination, individuality, and independence.

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

To be fond of learning is near to wisdom; to practice with vigor is near to benevolence; and to be conscious of shame is near to fortitude. He who knows these three things

Confucius

Nothing marks the character of a young man more than failure.

We falsely attribute to men a determined character -- putting together all their yesterdays -- and averaging them -- we presume we know them. Pity the man who has character to support -- it is worse than a large family -- he is the silent poor indeed.

Thoreau, Henry David

Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.

Frankfurter, Felix

Instill the love of you into all the world, for a good character is what is remembered.

Merikare

10.

The real character of a man is found out by his amusements.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

11.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

12.

Those who cross the sea change only the climate, not their character.

Horace

13.

It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

Amiel, Henri Frederic

14.

We know but a few men, a great many coats and breeches.

Thoreau, Henry David

15.

You can tell the character of every man when you see how he receives praise.

Seneca

16.

Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.

Confucius

17.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

18.

Temperance is a tree which as for its root very little contentment, and for its fruit calm and peace.

Buddha

19.

You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans.

Reagan, Ronald

20.

My father told me that if you saw a man in a Rolls Royce you could be sure he was not a gentleman unless he was the chauffeur.

Arran, Earl of

21.

Success is always temporary. When all is said and one, the only thing you'll have left is your character.

Gill, Vince

22.

Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.

Landers, Ann

23.

If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a habit, you create a character. If you create a character, you create a destiny.

Maurois, Andre

24.

It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best reveals his character.

Schopenhauer, Arthur

25.

We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities.

Maritain, Jacques

26.

A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.

Hall, Manly

27.

Few persons are made of such strong fiber that they will make a costly outlay when surface work will pass as well in the market.

Bounds, E. M.

28.

Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity.

29.

Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one.

30.

Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

Cicero

31.

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

32.

They attack the one man with their hate and their shower of weapons. But he is like some rock which stretches into the vast sea and which, exposed to the fury of the winds and beaten against by the waves, endures all the violence

Virgil

33.

Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.

Gaulle, Charles De

34.

You must regulate your life by the standards you admire when you are at your best.

Thomas, John M.

35.

Character is like the foundation of a house -- it is below the surface.

36.

You can buy a person's time; you can buy their physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of their skilled muscular motions per hour. But you can not buy enthusiasm... you can not buy loyalty. You can not buy the devotion of hearts, minds, or souls. You must earn these.

Francis, Clarence

37.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

King Jr. Martin Luther

38.

If anyone tells you someone has changed their character; don't believe it.

Mohammed

39.

If an ass goes traveling it will not come home a horse.

Proverb

40.

While he was not as dumb as an ox, he was not any smarter either.

Thurber, James

41.

A man's character is the reality of himself; his reputation, the opinion others have formed about him; character resides in him, reputation in other people; that is the substance, this is the shadow.

Beecher, Henry Ward

42.

I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself.

Lois McMaster Bujold

43.

Clothes don't tell the character of the man, but they just as well talk for him as against him.

44.

If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow.

Proverb, Chinese

45.

Deep down, I'm pretty superficial.

Gardner, Ava