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

He that has light within his own clear breast may sit in the center, and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the mid-day sun;

Milton, John

Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.

Aquinas, St. Thomas

Character is victory organized.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it.

Voltaire

Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

It isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, that counts.

Howell, Harry

Good character is like a rubber ball -- thrown down hard -- it bounces right back. Good reputation is like a crystal ball -- thrown for gain -- shattered and cracked.

Linall Jr. A. L.

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.

Goldsmith, Oliver

10.

Our character...is an omen of our destiny, and the more integrity we have and keep, the simpler and nobler that destiny is likely to be.

George Santayana

11.

Character is a victory, not a gift.

12.

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

Sivananda, Sri Swami

13.

Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence.

Elihu Burritt

14.

I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.

Plautus, Titus Maccius

15.

You are not very good if you are not better than your best friends imagine you to be.

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

16.

Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

17.

Strong characters are brought out by change of situation, and gentle ones by permanence.

Richter, Jean Paul

18.

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

19.

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

20.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

21.

Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted.

22.

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

Thomas, John M.

23.

Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self respect springs.

Joan Didion

24.

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

25.

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.

Solon

26.

Too many lives are needed to make just one.

Montale, Eugenio

27.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Wooden, John

28.

Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

29.

The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

30.

How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.

Petrarch, Francesco

31.

A man's character is his fate.

Heraclitus

32.

Before you advise anyone Be yourself! reassess his character.

33.

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

34.

Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.

Aristotle

35.

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

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

36.

The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioned our characters in the wrong way.

James, William

37.

It is better for the development of character and contentment to do certain things badly for yourself than to have them done better for you by someone else.

38.

Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.

Elmer G. Letterman

39.

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

40.

Everyone has three characters, that which they exhibit, that which they have, and that which they think they have.

Karr, Alphonse

41.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

42.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

43.

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

44.

The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in anything else. The basis of all integrity and character is whatever faith we have in our own integrity.

Smith, Roy L.

45.

When God measures man, He puts the tape around his heart -- not his head.

Guideposts

46.

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Macaulay, Thomas B.

47.

Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold.

Euripides

48.

I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself.