Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Lincoln, Abraham

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

Solon

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

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

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

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

Aristotle

Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down with incredible swiftness.

Baldwin, Faith

A rich man has no need of character.

Proverb, Hebrew

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

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

10.

If an ass goes traveling it will not come home a horse.

Proverb

11.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

12.

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

13.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

14.

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

Seneca

15.

Few people can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse.

Juvenal, (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

16.

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

17.

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

Brown, Les

18.

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

Thackeray, William M.

19.

Deep down, I'm pretty superficial.

Gardner, Ava

20.

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

Francis Thompson

21.

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.

22.

Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.

Robbins, Anthony

23.

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.

24.

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

Thomas, John M.

25.

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

Mason, John L.

26.

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.

27.

I have often thought the best way to define a man's character would be to seek out the particular mental or moral attitude in which, when it comes upon him, he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: This is the real me!.

James, William

28.

Character is another thing that is formed in youth and reformed in marriage.

29.

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.

30.

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

31.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

32.

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

Elihu Burritt

33.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

34.

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

35.

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

Michener, James A.

36.

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

37.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

38.

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

39.

I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments.

Nathaniel Emmons

40.

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

Leneru, Marie

41.

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

42.

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

Collins, Marva

43.

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

44.

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.

45.

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

46.

Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece-by thought, choice, courage and determination.

Luther, John

47.

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

48.

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

Bisset, Jacqueline

49.

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

Hepburn, Katharine

50.

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