Motivational Quotes

Character

Character is to man what carbon is to steel.

- Hill, Napoleon

Best Quotes about Character

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

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

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

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

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

Character is a victory, not a gift.

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

Elmer G. Letterman

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

Aristotle

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.

10.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

11.

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

Seneca

12.

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

13.

Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.

Oscar Levant

14.

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

15.

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

Freeman, Robert

16.

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

Disraeli, Benjamin

17.

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

18.

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

Hay, Colin

19.

Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.

Greeley, Horace

20.

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

21.

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.

22.

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

23.

Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life.

Shakespeare, William

24.

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

Francis Thompson

25.

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

Lippmann, Walter

26.

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

27.

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

Confucius

28.

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

29.

One can acquire everything in solitude - except character.

Marie Henri Beyle

30.

Football doesn't build character. It eliminates weak ones.

Royal, Darrell

31.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

32.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

33.

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

Marie Leneru

34.

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

35.

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

36.

Few persons are made of such strong fiber that they will make a costly outlay when surface work will pass as well in the market.

Bounds, E. M.

37.

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

Estrange, L.

38.

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

39.

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.

40.

If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a habit, you create a character. If you create a character, you create a destiny.

Maurois, Andre

41.

Character development is the aim of education.

O'Shea

42.

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

Hermann Hesse

43.

What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.

Dyke, Henry Van

44.

If a man character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business.

Thackeray, William M.

45.

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

46.

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

Mason, John L.

47.

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.

48.

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.

49.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

50.

You are not very good if you are not better than your best friends imagine you to be.

Lavater, Johann Kaspar