Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Reagan, Ronald

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

Collins, Marva

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7]

Bible

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

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

Aristotle

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

The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back.

Buren, Abigail Van

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

Howell, Harry

10.

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

11.

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

12.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

13.

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

14.

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

Chesterfield, Lord

15.

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

16.

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

17.

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.

18.

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

19.

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

20.

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

Baldwin, Faith

21.

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

Brown, Les

22.

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

23.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

24.

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

Bovee, Christian Nevell

25.

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.

26.

Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.

W. Somerset Maugham

27.

I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.

Plautus, Titus Maccius

28.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

29.

Too many lives are needed to make just one.

Montale, Eugenio

30.

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

31.

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.

32.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

33.

Character is a victory, not a gift.

34.

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

Angelou, Maya

35.

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

Buddha

36.

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

Solon

37.

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

Lippmann, Walter

38.

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

Shakespeare, William

39.

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

Hay, Colin

40.

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Abraham Lincoln

41.

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

Jefferson, Thomas

42.

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

Schopenhauer, Arthur

43.

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

Hermann Hesse

44.

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

45.

I have often thought the best way to define a man's character would be to seek out the particular mental or moral attitude in which, when it comes upon him, he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: This is the real me!.

James, William

46.

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

47.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

48.

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

49.

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

50.

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