Motivational Quotes

Character

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.

Best Quotes about Character

An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards, himself his own dungeon.

Pandita, Saskya

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

Lincoln, Abraham

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

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

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

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

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

Solon

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

Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.

Robbins, Anthony

10.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

11.

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

Estrange, L.

12.

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

Lippmann, Walter

13.

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

14.

There is no greater index of character so sure as the voice.

Disraeli, Benjamin

15.

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

16.

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

Brown, Les

17.

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

Hepburn, Katharine

18.

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

Mason, John L.

19.

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

Confucius

20.

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

21.

Instill the love of you into all the world, for a good character is what is remembered.

Merikare

22.

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

Richards, Mary Caroline

23.

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

24.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

25.

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

26.

Deep down, I'm pretty superficial.

Gardner, Ava

27.

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

28.

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

James A. Froude

29.

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

30.

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

Hermann Hesse

31.

Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

32.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

Thomas, Isiah

33.

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

Elmer G. Letterman

34.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

35.

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

36.

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

Petrarch, Francesco

37.

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

38.

For character too is a process and an unfolding... among our valued friends is there not someone or other who is a little too self confident and disdainful; whose distinguished mind is a little spotted with commonness; who is a little pinched here and protuberant there with native prejudices; or whose better energies are liable to lapse down the wrong channel under the influence of transient solicitations?

Eliot, George

39.

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

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

40.

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

Euripides

41.

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

42.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

43.

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

Joan Didion

44.

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

45.

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.

46.

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

47.

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

48.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

49.

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.

50.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African