Motivational Quotes

Character

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Best Quotes about Character

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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.

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

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

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize.

Covey, Stephen R.

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

Michener, James A.

10.

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.

11.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

12.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

13.

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.

14.

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

15.

Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit.

Lowell, James Russell

16.

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

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

17.

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

Chesterfield, Lord

18.

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

19.

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

20.

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

21.

You must regulate your life by the standards you admire when you are at your best.

Thomas, John M.

22.

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

Richards, Mary Caroline

23.

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

24.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

Thomas, Isiah

25.

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

26.

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

27.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

28.

Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades.

Bisset, Jacqueline

29.

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

Lippmann, Walter

30.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

31.

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

Merikare

32.

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

33.

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

Thackeray, William M.

34.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

35.

Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principles.

Hume, David

36.

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

37.

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

38.

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

Howell, Harry

39.

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

Marden, Orison Swett

40.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

41.

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

Crisp, Quentin

42.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

43.

Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity.

44.

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

45.

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

46.

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

47.

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

48.

Fame is what you have taken, character is what you give. When to this truth you awaken, then you begin to live.

Taylor, Bayard

49.

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

James A. Froude

50.

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