Motivational Quotes

Character

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

- Macaulay, Thomas B.

Best Quotes about Character

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

Confucius

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

Thoreau, Henry David

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

Howell, Harry

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

Deep down, I'm pretty superficial.

Gardner, Ava

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

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

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

Fitzwater, P. B.

Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.

Wilson, Woodrow T.

10.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

11.

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.

12.

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

13.

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

14.

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

Shakespeare, William

15.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

16.

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

Royal, Darrell

17.

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

18.

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

Brown, Les

19.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

20.

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

Mason, John L.

21.

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

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De

22.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

23.

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

Guideposts

24.

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

25.

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.

26.

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

27.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

28.

The higher character a person supports the more they should regard their smallest actions.

29.

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

Proverb

30.

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

Schopenhauer, Arthur

31.

A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.

Hall, Manly

32.

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

33.

My father told me that if you saw a man in a Rolls Royce you could be sure he was not a gentleman unless he was the chauffeur.

Arran, Earl of

34.

Property may be destroyed and money may lose its purchasing power; but, character, health, knowledge and good judgment will always be in demand under all conditions.

Babson, Roger

35.

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

Gill, Vince

36.

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

37.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

38.

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

Collins, Marva

39.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

40.

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.

41.

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

Chesterfield, Lord

42.

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

43.

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

Frankfurter, Felix

44.

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.

45.

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

Elihu Burritt

46.

Too many lives are needed to make just one.

Montale, Eugenio

47.

Let us not say, every man is the architect of his own fortune; but let us say, every man is the architect of his own character.

Boardman, George D.

48.

No artist work is so high, so noble, so grand, so enduring, so important for all time, as the making of character in a child.