Motivational Quotes

Character

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

- Proverb, African

Best Quotes about Character

There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he is absolutely free to choose.

Bulger, William M.

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

Taylor, Bayard

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence.

Elihu Burritt

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.

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

Buddha

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

10.

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

11.

You don't get in life what you want; you get in life what you are.

Brown, Les

12.

Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit.

Lowell, James Russell

13.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

14.

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

15.

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

16.

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

Baldwin, Faith

17.

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

Bovee, Christian Nevell

18.

Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

Cicero

19.

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

Mohammed

20.

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

Shakespeare, William

21.

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

Voltaire

22.

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.

23.

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

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

24.

A man's character is his fate.

Heraclitus

25.

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

26.

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

Lois McMaster Bujold

27.

In attempts to improve your character, know what is in your power and what is beyond it.

Francis Thompson

28.

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

29.

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Michener, James A.

30.

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

31.

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

Hall, Manly

32.

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.

33.

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

34.

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

35.

You must look into people, as well as at them.

Chesterfield, Lord

36.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

37.

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

38.

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

Proverb, Chinese

39.

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

40.

If a man character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business.

Thackeray, William M.

41.

If an ass goes traveling it will not come home a horse.

Proverb

42.

Strong feelings do not necessarily make a strong character. The strength of a man is to be measured by the power of the feelings he subdues not by the power of those which subdue him.

William Carleton

43.

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

44.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

45.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

46.

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

47.

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

Leneru, Marie

48.

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

49.

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

50.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander