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

Few persons are made of such strong fiber that they will make a costly outlay when surface work will pass as well in the market.

Bounds, E. M.

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

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

Confucius

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

A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another s.

Richter, Jean Paul

If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow.

Proverb, Chinese

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

Maritain, Jacques

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Those who cross the sea change only the climate, not their character.

Horace

10.

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

11.

Therefore keep in the midst of life. Do not isolate yourself. Be among men and things, and among troubles, and difficulties, and obstacles.

Drummond, Henry

12.

For character too is a process and an unfolding... among our valued friends is there not someone or other who is a little too self confident and disdainful; whose distinguished mind is a little spotted with commonness; who is a little pinched here and protuberant there with native prejudices; or whose better energies are liable to lapse down the wrong channel under the influence of transient solicitations?

Eliot, George

13.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

14.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

15.

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

16.

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.

17.

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.

18.

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

Guideposts

19.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

20.

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

Nathaniel Emmons

21.

Be thou incapable of change in that which is right, and men will rely upon thee. Establish unto thyself principles of action; and see that thou ever act according to them. First know that thy principles are just, and then be thou

Akhenaton

22.

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

23.

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

Leneru, Marie

24.

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

25.

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

Hall, Manly

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.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

28.

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

29.

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

30.

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

31.

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

32.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Wooden, John

33.

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

Thomas, John M.

34.

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

Taylor, Bayard

35.

Character matters; leadership descends from character.

Limbaugh, Rush

36.

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

Chesterfield, Lord

37.

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

Aristotle

38.

The real character of a man is found out by his amusements.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

39.

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

Collins, Marva

40.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

41.

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

42.

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

43.

Character is a victory, not a gift.

44.

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.

Angelou, Maya

45.

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

46.

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7]

Bible

47.

I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself.

Lois McMaster Bujold

48.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

49.

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