Motivational Quotes

Character

Character is not made in a crisis -- it is only exhibited.

- Freeman, Robert

Best Quotes about Character

Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.

Disraeli, Benjamin

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

That which we call character is a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means. It is conceived of as a certain undemonstrable force, a familiar or genius, by whose impulses the man is guided, but whose counsels he cannot impart.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Honor is the inner garment of the Soul; the first thing put on by it with the flesh, and the last it layeth down at its separation from it.

Akhenaton

Character development is the aim of education.

O'Shea

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

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.

A man with a so-called character is often a simple piece of mechanism; he has often only one point of view for the extremely complicated relationships of life.

Strindberg, J. August

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

Proverb, Chinese

10.

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

11.

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

Petrarch, Francesco

12.

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

13.

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

14.

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

Hall, Manly

15.

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

16.

All men are alike in their lower natures; it is in their higher characters that they differ.

Bovee, Christian Nevell

17.

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

Voltaire

18.

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

Solon

19.

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

Buddha

20.

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

21.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

22.

To succeed is nothing -- it's an accident. But to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.

Leneru, Marie

23.

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

24.

Character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

25.

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.

26.

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

Elmer G. Letterman

27.

Character is not made in a crisis -- it is only exhibited.

Freeman, Robert

28.

Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

29.

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

Aristotle

30.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

31.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

32.

Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.

Churchill, Winston

33.

The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself.

Confucius

34.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

35.

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

36.

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

37.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

38.

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.

39.

For character too is a process and an unfolding... among our valued friends is there not someone or other who is a little too self confident and disdainful; whose distinguished mind is a little spotted with commonness; who is a little pinched here and protuberant there with native prejudices; or whose better energies are liable to lapse down the wrong channel under the influence of transient solicitations?

Eliot, George

40.

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

Howell, Harry

41.

Property may be destroyed and money may lose its purchasing power; but, character, health, knowledge and good judgment will always be in demand under all conditions.

Babson, Roger

42.

Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.

Robbins, Anthony

43.

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

Confucius

44.

Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life.

Shakespeare, William

45.

Judge of your natural character by what you do in dreams.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

46.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

Thomas, Isiah

47.

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

48.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

49.

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

Estrange, L.

50.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander