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

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

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.

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

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

Fitzwater, P. B.

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

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

Aquinas, St. Thomas

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

Brown, Les

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

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.

10.

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

11.

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

12.

The highest qualities of character must be earned.

Abbott, Lyman

13.

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

Nathaniel Emmons

14.

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

James A. Froude

15.

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

16.

How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.

Petrarch, Francesco

17.

He that has light within his own clear breast may sit in the center, and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the mid-day sun;

Milton, John

18.

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

19.

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

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

20.

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

Richter, Jean Paul

21.

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

Disraeli, Benjamin

22.

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

Wilson, Woodrow T.

23.

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

24.

A man's character is his fate.

Heraclitus

25.

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

26.

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

27.

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

28.

The lord will not hold back the promises, even if the person who makes them is not worthy.

29.

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

30.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Proverb, Chinese

31.

Success is always temporary. When all is said and one, the only thing you'll have left is your character.

Gill, Vince

32.

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

33.

The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.

Shakespeare, William

34.

If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how -- the very best I can. And I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.

Lincoln, Abraham

35.

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.

36.

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

37.

Character is our destiny.

Heraclitus

38.

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

39.

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.

40.

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.

41.

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

Angelou, Maya

42.

Character is the impulse reined down into steady continuance.

Parkhurst, Charles H.

43.

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

44.

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

Hall, Manly

45.

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

Reynolds, Sir Joshua

46.

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

47.

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.

48.

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

49.

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

Buddha

50.

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

Thoreau, Henry David