Motivational Quotes

Character

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.

- Solon

Best Quotes about Character

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

Karr, Alphonse

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

Seneca

It is better for the development of character and contentment to do certain things badly for yourself than to have them done better for you by someone else.

To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.

Hepburn, Katharine

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

Marden, Orison Swett

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

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

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

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Look, we're all the same; a man is a fourteen-room house --in the bedroom he's asleep with his intelligent wife, in the living-room he's rolling around with some bareass girl, in the library he's paying his taxes, in the yard he's raising tomatoes, and in the cellar he's making a bomb to blow it all up.

Miller, Arthur

10.

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

11.

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

Disraeli, Benjamin

12.

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

13.

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.

14.

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

Hay, Colin

15.

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

16.

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

Elmer G. Letterman

17.

We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities.

Maritain, Jacques

18.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

Lincoln, Abraham

19.

Judge of your natural character by what you do in dreams.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

20.

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

Elihu Burritt

21.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

22.

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

23.

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

24.

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

25.

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.

26.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

27.

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

James A. Froude

28.

All men are alike in their lower natures; it is in their higher characters that they differ.

Bovee, Christian Nevell

29.

Character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

30.

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

31.

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

32.

While he was not as dumb as an ox, he was not any smarter either.

Thurber, James

33.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

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.

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

Bisset, Jacqueline

36.

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

37.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

38.

Character is to man what carbon is to steel.

Hill, Napoleon

39.

To be fond of learning is near to wisdom; to practice with vigor is near to benevolence; and to be conscious of shame is near to fortitude. He who knows these three things

Confucius

40.

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

41.

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.

42.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

43.

Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

44.

You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans.

Reagan, Ronald

45.

Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you weren't born with and must take responsibility for forming.

Rohn, Jim

46.

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.

47.

A rich man has no need of character.

Proverb, Hebrew

48.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

49.

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.

Goldsmith, Oliver

50.

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