Motivational Quotes

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Bovee, Christian Nevell

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

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

Joan Didion

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

Fame is what you have taken, character is what you give. When to this truth you awaken, then you begin to live.

Taylor, Bayard

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

Hepburn, Katharine

10.

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

Marie Leneru

11.

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

12.

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

13.

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

14.

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

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

15.

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

16.

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

Guideposts

17.

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.

18.

Your character will be what you yourself choose to make it.

Lubbock, Sir John

19.

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

Karr, Alphonse

20.

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.

21.

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

Leneru, Marie

22.

Be thou incapable of change in that which is right, and men will rely upon thee. Establish unto thyself principles of action; and see that thou ever act according to them. First know that thy principles are just, and then be thou

Akhenaton

23.

It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.

James, William

24.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

25.

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

Peter The Great

26.

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

Howell, Harry

27.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

28.

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.

29.

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.

30.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

31.

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

32.

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

Jefferson, Thomas

33.

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

34.

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

35.

It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best reveals his character.

Schopenhauer, Arthur

36.

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.

37.

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

Petrarch, Francesco

38.

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

39.

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

40.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

41.

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

42.

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

Hall, Manly

43.

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

44.

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

45.

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

Richards, Mary Caroline

46.

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

Seneca

47.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

48.

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