Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Solon

Character is the impulse reined down into steady continuance.

Parkhurst, Charles H.

The happiness of every country depends upon the character of its people, rather than the form of its government.

Haliburton, Thomas C.

Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.

Landers, Ann

You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.

James A. Froude

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

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

Elmer G. Letterman

They attack the one man with their hate and their shower of weapons. But he is like some rock which stretches into the vast sea and which, exposed to the fury of the winds and beaten against by the waves, endures all the violence

Virgil

10.

Character development is the aim of education.

O'Shea

11.

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

12.

While he was not as dumb as an ox, he was not any smarter either.

Thurber, James

13.

Nothing marks the character of a young man more than failure.

14.

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

15.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

16.

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

17.

Clothes don't tell the character of the man, but they just as well talk for him as against him.

18.

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.

19.

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

Goldsmith, Oliver

20.

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

21.

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

Karr, Alphonse

22.

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

23.

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

Guideposts

24.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

25.

Between ourselves and our real natures we interpose that wax figure of idealizations and selections which we call our character.

Lippmann, Walter

26.

It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

Amiel, Henri Frederic

27.

Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.

Robbins, Anthony

28.

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

Reagan, Ronald

29.

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

30.

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

Thackeray, William M.

31.

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

32.

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

Hepburn, Katharine

33.

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

Confucius

34.

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

Crisp, Quentin

35.

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

36.

No artist work is so high, so noble, so grand, so enduring, so important for all time, as the making of character in a child.

Cushman, Charlotte Saunders

37.

Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.

Wilson, Woodrow T.

38.

Pity the man who has a character to support --it is worse than a large family -- he is silent poor indeed.

Thoreau, Henry David

39.

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

Freeman, Robert

40.

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.

Angelou, Maya

41.

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

Hay, Colin

42.

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

Lois McMaster Bujold

43.

Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold.

Euripides

44.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

45.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

46.

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

Michener, James A.

47.

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

48.

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

Elihu Burritt

49.

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

Francis Thompson

50.

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