Motivational Quotes

Character

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

Best Quotes about Character

Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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

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

Character is the sum and total of a person's choices.

Fitzwater, P. B.

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

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

Haliburton, Thomas C.

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

Menander

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.

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

Elihu Burritt

10.

Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity.

11.

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.

Proverb, African

12.

My father told me that if you saw a man in a Rolls Royce you could be sure he was not a gentleman unless he was the chauffeur.

Arran, Earl of

13.

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

Elmer G. Letterman

14.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

Washington, Booker T.

15.

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

16.

Character is victory organized.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

17.

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

Guideposts

18.

Character is simply habit long continued.

Plutarch

19.

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

20.

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

21.

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

22.

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

Bovee, Christian Nevell

23.

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

Francis Thompson

24.

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

25.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

26.

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

27.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

Thomas, Isiah

28.

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

Estrange, L.

29.

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

30.

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

Sivananda, Sri Swami

31.

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

Bisset, Jacqueline

32.

Character is the impulse reined down into steady continuance.

Parkhurst, Charles H.

33.

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

James A. Froude

34.

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

Proverb, Chinese

35.

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

Crisp, Quentin

36.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

37.

Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.

Oscar Levant

38.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

39.

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

40.

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

41.

Temperance is a tree which as for its root very little contentment, and for its fruit calm and peace.

Buddha

42.

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

43.

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.

44.

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

Freeman, Robert

45.

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

Collins, Marva

46.

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

Proverb

47.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.