Motivational Quotes

Character

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

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Best Quotes about Character

Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character

Covey, Stephen R.

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

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

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forget-me-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

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

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

Goldsmith, Oliver

Character is to man what carbon is to steel.

Hill, Napoleon

To have character is to be big enough to take life on.

Richards, Mary Caroline

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

10.

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

11.

Character is the sum and total of a person's choices.

Fitzwater, P. B.

12.

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

Guideposts

13.

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

Karr, Alphonse

14.

As fire when thrown into water is cooled down and put out, so also a false accusation when brought against a man of the purest and holiest character, boils over and is at once dissipated, and vanishes and threats of heaven and sea, himself standing unmoved.

Cicero, Marcus T.

15.

Few people can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse.

Juvenal, (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

16.

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

Shakespeare, William

17.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

Lincoln, Abraham

18.

An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards, himself his own dungeon.

Pandita, Saskya

19.

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

Reagan, Ronald

20.

The lord will not hold back the promises, even if the person who makes them is not worthy.

21.

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

22.

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

23.

Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of a man you are. It shows me what your ideal of manhood is, and what kind of a man you long to be.

Carlyle, Thomas

24.

While an original is always hard to find, he is easy to recognize.

Mason, John L.

25.

One can acquire everything in solitude - except character.

Marie Henri Beyle

26.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

Keller, Helen

27.

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

Horace

28.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Camus, Albert

29.

Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.

Robbins, Anthony

30.

There's a fine line between character building and soul destroying.

Hay, Colin

31.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

32.

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

33.

Character is the impulse reined down into steady continuance.

Parkhurst, Charles H.

34.

What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.

Dyke, Henry Van

35.

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

Lois McMaster Bujold

36.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

37.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

38.

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

Royal, Darrell

39.

During my eighty-seven years, I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think.

Baruch, Bernard M.

40.

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

41.

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

Chambers, Oswald

42.

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.

43.

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.

44.

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

45.

Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down with incredible swiftness.

Baldwin, Faith

46.

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

Peter The Great

47.

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

48.

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

49.

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

Joan Didion

50.

To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.

Hepburn, Katharine