Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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.

Football doesn't build character. It eliminates weak ones.

Royal, Darrell

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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

Let us not say, every man is the architect of his own fortune; but let us say, every man is the architect of his own character.

Boardman, George D.

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.

Estrange, L.

Character is to man what carbon is to steel.

Hill, Napoleon

Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.

Wilson, Woodrow T.

10.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

11.

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

Howell, Harry

12.

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

Thurber, James

13.

Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly ones own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man.

Pandita, Saskya

14.

A man's character is his fate.

Heraclitus

15.

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.

16.

Character is a victory, not a gift.

17.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

18.

Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended.

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

19.

Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.

Collins, Marva

20.

When about to commit a base deed, respect thyself, though there is no witness.

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

21.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

22.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

23.

I appreciate people who are civil, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be civil. Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There's a vanity to candor that isn't really worth it. Be kind.

Richard Greenberg

24.

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

Euripides

25.

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

Confucius

26.

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

Aristotle

27.

Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.

W. Somerset Maugham

28.

Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.

Chambers, Oswald

29.

The higher character a person supports the more they should regard their smallest actions.

30.

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

Seneca

31.

It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate -- to surmount every difficulty by resolution and contrivance.

Jefferson, Thomas

32.

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

Buddha

33.

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

34.

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

Joan Didion

35.

The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.

Trotsky, Leon

36.

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

Solon

37.

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

38.

A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another s.

Richter, Jean Paul

39.

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.

40.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

41.

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

42.

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

43.

Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades.

Bisset, Jacqueline

44.

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.

45.

If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how -- the very best I can. And I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.

Lincoln, Abraham

46.

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

47.

I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I'd like to be.

Forster, Edward M.

48.

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

Maritain, Jacques

49.

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

Petrarch, Francesco