Motivational Quotes

Character

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

- Bovee, Christian Nevell

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.

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

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

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

Schopenhauer, Arthur

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

Francis Thompson

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

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

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

10.

Property may be destroyed and money may lose its purchasing power; but, character, health, knowledge and good judgment will always be in demand under all conditions.

Babson, Roger

11.

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

Solon

12.

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

Mason, John L.

13.

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

Disraeli, Benjamin

14.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

15.

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

16.

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

Howell, Harry

17.

The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself.

Confucius

18.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

19.

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

Angelou, Maya

20.

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

Jefferson, Thomas

21.

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

22.

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.

23.

Character is the sum and total of a person's choices.

Fitzwater, P. B.

24.

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

25.

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

Taylor, Bayard

26.

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

27.

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

28.

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

Lubbock, Sir John

29.

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

Buddha

30.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

31.

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

32.

Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.

Aquinas, St. Thomas

33.

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

Elihu Burritt

34.

Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.

Disraeli, Benjamin

35.

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

Baldwin, Faith

36.

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

Collins, Marva

37.

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

38.

Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.

Oscar Levant

39.

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

40.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

41.

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

42.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

43.

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

Karr, Alphonse

44.

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

45.

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

Euripides

46.

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

47.

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

Guideposts

48.

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

Chesterfield, Lord