Motivational Quotes

Character

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

- Karr, Alphonse

Best Quotes about Character

Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long bow and the force of it depends on the strength of the arm from which it was shot. Argument is like a bullet fired from a gun and has equal force even when issued from a child.

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

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

Bisset, Jacqueline

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

Guideposts

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

Marie Leneru

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

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

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

You can't go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do.

Lebowitz, Fran

10.

Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you weren't born with and must take responsibility for forming.

Rohn, Jim

11.

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

Mohammed

12.

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

13.

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

Howell, Harry

14.

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

Aristotle

15.

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

16.

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

Seneca

17.

Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.

Robbins, Anthony

18.

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

19.

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.

20.

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

21.

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

22.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Camus, Albert

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.

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

Voltaire

25.

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

26.

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

27.

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

28.

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.

29.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

30.

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

31.

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

32.

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.

33.

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

34.

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

Lincoln, Abraham

35.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

36.

There is no greater index of character so sure as the voice.

Disraeli, Benjamin

37.

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

Proverb, Chinese

38.

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

Petrarch, Francesco

39.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

40.

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

41.

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

42.

Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses.

Crisp, Quentin

43.

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

Freeman, Robert

44.

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

45.

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

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

46.

Character is another thing that is formed in youth and reformed in marriage.

47.

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

48.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

49.

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

50.

A man's character is his fate.

Heraclitus