Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Petrarch, Francesco

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

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

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

Chesterfield, Lord

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.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

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

Freeman, Robert

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

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

10.

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

11.

They attack the one man with their hate and their shower of weapons. But he is like some rock which stretches into the vast sea and which, exposed to the fury of the winds and beaten against by the waves, endures all the violence

Virgil

12.

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

Collins, Marva

13.

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

14.

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

Guideposts

15.

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

16.

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

Crisp, Quentin

17.

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

Michener, James A.

18.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

19.

I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.

Plautus, Titus Maccius

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.

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

Lubbock, Sir John

22.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

23.

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.

24.

Character is victory organized.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

25.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

26.

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

Thackeray, William M.

27.

Instill the love of you into all the world, for a good character is what is remembered.

Merikare

28.

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

29.

Success is always temporary. When all is said and one, the only thing you'll have left is your character.

Gill, Vince

30.

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

31.

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

Aristotle

32.

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

33.

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

34.

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

35.

Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.

W. Somerset Maugham

36.

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

37.

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

38.

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

Proverb

39.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

40.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

41.

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

42.

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

43.

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

44.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

45.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

46.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

47.

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Abraham Lincoln

48.

Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

49.

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

Bible

50.

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