Motivational Quotes

Character

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

- Wilson, Woodrow T.

Best Quotes about Character

Few people can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse.

Juvenal, (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

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

Royal, Darrell

Honor is the inner garment of the Soul; the first thing put on by it with the flesh, and the last it layeth down at its separation from it.

Akhenaton

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.

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

Taylor, Bayard

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

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

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

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.

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.

Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

12.

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

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

13.

Character is the impulse reined down into steady continuance.

Parkhurst, Charles H.

14.

Character is a victory, not a gift.

15.

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

16.

One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.

Estrange, L.

17.

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

18.

Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.

Collins, Marva

19.

Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one.

20.

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

21.

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

Proverb, Chinese

22.

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

23.

Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly ones own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man.

Pandita, Saskya

24.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

25.

Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece-by thought, choice, courage and determination.

Luther, John

26.

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

27.

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

Lubbock, Sir John

28.

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

Lincoln, Abraham

29.

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

30.

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

31.

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

Proverb

32.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

33.

We know but a few men, a great many coats and breeches.

Thoreau, Henry David

34.

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

35.

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

36.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

37.

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.

Hermann Hesse

38.

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

39.

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

40.

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

41.

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

42.

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

Aristotle

43.

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.

44.

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.

45.

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

46.

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

Buddha

47.

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

Joan Didion

48.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

49.

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