Motivational Quotes

Character

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

- Elmer G. Letterman

Best Quotes about Character

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Lubbock, Sir John

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

Few people can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse.

Juvenal, (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

Pity the man who has a character to support --it is worse than a large family -- he is silent poor indeed.

Thoreau, Henry David

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

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

Aristotle

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

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

10.

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

Lincoln, Abraham

11.

Nothing marks the character of a young man more than failure.

12.

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

13.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

14.

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

Lippmann, Walter

15.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

16.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

17.

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

Schopenhauer, Arthur

18.

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

Hay, Colin

19.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

20.

Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.

Chambers, Oswald

21.

We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities.

Maritain, Jacques

22.

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

23.

Character is like the foundation of a house -- it is below the surface.

24.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

25.

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

Fitzwater, P. B.

26.

A man's character is the reality of himself; his reputation, the opinion others have formed about him; character resides in him, reputation in other people; that is the substance, this is the shadow.

Beecher, Henry Ward

27.

A rich man has no need of character.

Proverb, Hebrew

28.

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

Francis Thompson

29.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

30.

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

Proverb

31.

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

James A. Froude

32.

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

33.

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

Baldwin, Faith

34.

I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself.

Lois McMaster Bujold

35.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

36.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

37.

Character is not made in a crisis -- it is only exhibited.

Freeman, Robert

38.

You can buy a person's time; you can buy their physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of their skilled muscular motions per hour. But you can not buy enthusiasm... you can not buy loyalty. You can not buy the devotion of hearts, minds, or souls. You must earn these.

Francis, Clarence

39.

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

40.

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

41.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

42.

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.

43.

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

44.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

45.

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

Marie Leneru

46.

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

Seneca

47.

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

Elihu Burritt

48.

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

Chesterfield, Lord

49.

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

50.

It is better for the development of character and contentment to do certain things badly for yourself than to have them done better for you by someone else.