Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

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

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.

Oscar Levant

Character is the indelible mark that determines the only true value of all people and all their work.

Marden, Orison Swett

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

Voltaire

Character matters; leadership descends from character.

Limbaugh, Rush

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.

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

Karr, Alphonse

10.

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

11.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

12.

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

13.

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

14.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

15.

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

Angelou, Maya

16.

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

Leneru, Marie

17.

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

Michener, James A.

18.

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

Richards, Mary Caroline

19.

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

Petrarch, Francesco

20.

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.

21.

One can acquire everything in solitude - except character.

Marie Henri Beyle

22.

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

23.

Deep down, I'm pretty superficial.

Gardner, Ava

24.

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

25.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

26.

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

27.

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

Hermann Hesse

28.

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

Hay, Colin

29.

Therefore keep in the midst of life. Do not isolate yourself. Be among men and things, and among troubles, and difficulties, and obstacles.

Drummond, Henry

30.

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

Schopenhauer, Arthur

31.

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

32.

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

Lippmann, Walter

33.

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

Bible

34.

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.

35.

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

James A. Froude

36.

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

Francis Thompson

37.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

38.

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

39.

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

40.

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

41.

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

42.

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

Crisp, Quentin

43.

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

44.

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

45.

As fire when thrown into water is cooled down and put out, so also a false accusation when brought against a man of the purest and holiest character, boils over and is at once dissipated, and vanishes and threats of heaven and sea, himself standing unmoved.

Cicero, Marcus T.

46.

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

47.

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

Baldwin, Faith

48.

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

Disraeli, Benjamin

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.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Camus, Albert