Motivational Quotes

Character

Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

- Cicero

Best Quotes about Character

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

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

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

Confucius

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

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

Elihu Burritt

If anyone tells you someone has changed their character; don't believe it.

Mohammed

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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

Elmer G. Letterman

10.

It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.

James, William

11.

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

Taylor, Bayard

12.

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

13.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

14.

You can tell the character of every man when you see how he receives praise.

Seneca

15.

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.

16.

I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself.

Peter The Great

17.

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

Baldwin, Faith

18.

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.

19.

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

20.

Our character...is an omen of our destiny, and the more integrity we have and keep, the simpler and nobler that destiny is likely to be.

George Santayana

21.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

22.

Character is victory organized.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

23.

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

24.

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

25.

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.

26.

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

Crisp, Quentin

27.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

28.

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

Goldsmith, Oliver

29.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

30.

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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 succeed is nothing, it's an accident. but to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.

Marie Leneru

33.

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

Richards, Mary Caroline

34.

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

Proverb, Chinese

35.

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

36.

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

James A. Froude

37.

Too many lives are needed to make just one.

Montale, Eugenio

38.

Character matters; leadership descends from character.

Limbaugh, Rush

39.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Camus, Albert

40.

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

Disraeli, Benjamin

41.

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

42.

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

Howell, Harry

43.

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

Hay, Colin

44.

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

Brown, Les

45.

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

Hepburn, Katharine

46.

One can easily judge the character of a person by the way they treat people who can do nothing for them.

Proverb

47.

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

Michener, James A.

48.

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

49.

To succeed is nothing -- it's an accident. But to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.

Leneru, Marie

50.

The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it.

Voltaire