Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

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

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 can't go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do.

Lebowitz, Fran

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

Bovee, Christian Nevell

Thoreau, Henry David

Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.

Chambers, Oswald

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

10.

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

Mason, John L.

11.

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

12.

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

13.

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

Lubbock, Sir John

14.

Character is victory organized.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

15.

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.

16.

Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of a man you are. It shows me what your ideal of manhood is, and what kind of a man you long to be.

Carlyle, Thomas

17.

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

Reagan, Ronald

18.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

19.

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

Thackeray, William M.

20.

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

21.

Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.

Gaulle, Charles De

22.

One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.

Estrange, L.

23.

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

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

24.

Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one.

25.

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

26.

One can acquire everything in solitude - except character.

Marie Henri Beyle

27.

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

28.

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

29.

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

Leneru, Marie

30.

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

Schopenhauer, Arthur

31.

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

Proverb

32.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

33.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

34.

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

35.

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

36.

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

Bisset, Jacqueline

37.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

38.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

39.

Some people are born hammers, others anvils.

Proverb

40.

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

41.

If anyone tells you someone has changed their character; don't believe it.

Mohammed

42.

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

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

43.

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

44.

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

Solon

45.

Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold.

Euripides

46.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

47.

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

Shakespeare, William

48.

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

49.

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

Freeman, Robert

50.

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

Maritain, Jacques