Motivational Quotes

Character

It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

- Amiel, Henri Frederic

Best Quotes about Character

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

Leneru, Marie

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

Thackeray, William M.

The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it.

Voltaire

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

Few people can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse.

Juvenal, (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Macaulay, Thomas B.

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.

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

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

Lippmann, Walter

10.

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.

11.

There is no greater index of character so sure as the voice.

Disraeli, Benjamin

12.

I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I'd like to be.

Forster, Edward M.

13.

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

14.

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

15.

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

16.

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

Howell, Harry

17.

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

18.

I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself.

Peter The Great

19.

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

20.

Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

Cicero

21.

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

Euripides

22.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

23.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

24.

Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.

Wilson, Woodrow T.

25.

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

26.

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

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

27.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

28.

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

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

29.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Camus, Albert

30.

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

Guideposts

31.

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

Karr, Alphonse

32.

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

James A. Froude

33.

A man's character is his fate.

Heraclitus

34.

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.

Hermann Hesse

35.

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

Hepburn, Katharine

36.

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

Brown, Les

37.

Character matters; leadership descends from character.

Limbaugh, Rush

38.

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

Thoreau, Henry David

39.

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

40.

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

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

41.

Character is a victory, not a gift.

42.

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

Crisp, Quentin

43.

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.

44.

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

Chesterfield, Lord

45.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

46.

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

Seneca

47.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

48.

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.

49.

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

Hay, Colin

50.

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