Character Quotes

To measure the man, measure his heart. Audrey Hepburn Quotes The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do. John Holt Quotes Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller Quotes Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln Quotes It's good to shut up sometimes. Marcel Marceau Quotes 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 Quotes You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one. James A Froude Quotes A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Quotes Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself. Lois McMaster Bujold Quotes It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered. Eschylus Quotes Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. Sam Ewig Quotes You can tell the character of every man when you see how he receives praise. Seneca Quotes Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath. Solon Quotes Sow an act...reap a habit; Sow a habit...reap a character; Sow a character...reap a destiny. George Dana Boardman Quotes It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character. Henry Clay Quotes Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow. Elias Boudinot Quotes Sports do not build character. They reveal it. Matthew Campbell Quotes History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstances. Donald Creighton Quotes Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold. Euripides Quotes Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny. Tryon Edwards Quotes Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes It seems to me that perfection of means and confusion of goals seems to characterize our age. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes A signature always reveals a man's character - and sometimes even his name. Evan Esar Quotes It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate - to surmount every difficulty by resolution and contrivance. Thomas Jefferson Quotes To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give. W Somerset Maugham Quotes Don't worry so much about your self-esteem. Worry more about your character. Integrity is its own reward. Dr Laura Schlessinger Quotes Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. Norman Schwarzkopf Quotes It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character. Dr Dale E Turner Quotes Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. John Wooden Quotes Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. John Wooden Quotes Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. Benjamin Franklin Quotes Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. H Jackson Brown Jr Quotes Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. Author Unknown Quotes Among the many attributions found for this: Emerson">Ralph Waldo Emerson, Andre Maurois, Charles Reade, Buddist Proverb, Samuel Smiles, Allen">James Allen, George D. Boardman, and Francis E. Willard Author Unknown Quotes Guard against the prestige of great names; see that your judgments are your own; and do not shrink from disagreement; no trusting without testing. Lord (John Emerich Edward Dalberg) Acton Quotes Character is the salesperson’s stock in trade. The product itself is secondary. Truthfulness, enthusiasm and patience are great assets to every salesperson. Without them, they couldn’t go far. Courage and courtesy are essential equipment. George M. Adams Quotes We live in deeds, not years: In thoughts not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. David Bailey Quotes The discipline you learn and character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable than the achievement of the goal itself. Bo Bennett Quotes Reflect upon the defects of your character: thoroughly realize their evils and the transient pleasures they give you, and firmly will that you shall try your best not to yield to them the next time. Helen P. Blavatsky Quotes The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that. Charles R. Brown Quotes "Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking." H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Quotes "Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place every day." Albert Camus Quotes Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. Dale Carnegie Quotes If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody. Agatha Christie Quotes 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. Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes To see what is right, and not do it, is want of courage, or of principle. Confucius Quotes The circumstances amid which you life determine your reputation; the truth you believe determines your character. Reputation is what you are supposed to be; character is what you are. Reputation is the photograph; character is the face. Reputation comes over one from without; character grows up from within. Reputation is what you have when you come to a new community; character is what you have when you go away. Your reputation is learned in an hour; your character does not come to light for a year. Reputation is made in a moment; character is built in a lifetime. Reputation grows like a mushroom; character grows like the oak. A single newspaper report gives you your reputation; a life of toil gives you your character. Reputation makes you rich or makes you poor; character makes you happy or makes you miserable. Reputation is what men say about you on your tombstone; character is what angels say about you before the throne of God. William Hersey Davis Quotes "To measure the man, measure his heart." Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Quotes Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures. Horace Greeley Quotes To exercise good character daily is to be morally fit for life. Karen Hartz Quotes The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny — it is the light that guides your way. Heraclitus Quotes "The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do." John Holt Quotes "Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street." Elbert Hubbard Quotes "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller Quotes "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes To produce things and to rear them, To produce, but not to take possession of them, To act, but not to rely on one's own ability, To lead them, but not to master them - This is called profound and secret virtue. Lao-Tzu Quotes Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light. C.S. Lewis Quotes "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln Quotes "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out." Thomas Babington Macaulay Quotes "It's good to shut up sometimes." Marcel Marceau Quotes "When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character." W. Somerset Maugham Quotes The most spiritual men, as the strongest, find their happiness where others would find their destruction: in the Labyrinth, in hardness against themseleves and others, in experiments. Their joy is self-conquest. Difficult tasks are a priviledge to them; to play with burdens that crush others, a recreation. They are the most venerable kind of man: that does not preclude their being the most cheerful and the kindliest. Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence. Edward Rickenbacker Quotes I admire men of character and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates. And that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Quotes "To point out the importance of circumspection in your conduct, it may be proper to observe that a good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous." George Washington Quotes In order to form correct habits, we should seek the company of persons of sound moral and religious influence. We should constantly bear in mind that we may be fitting to inhabit the heavenly courts. The precious hours of probation are granted that we may remove every defect from the character; and we should seek to do this, not only that we may obtain the future life, but that we may be useful here. Young men and women should regard a good character as a capital of more value than gold or silver or stocks. It will be unaffected by panics and failures, and will bring rich returns when earthly possessions shall be swept away. Ellen G. White Quotes He is like a good prewar house-solidly built. They don't build them that way anymore. He's also been repainted several times. Theodore White Quotes Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all. John Greenleaf Whittier Quotes No fate could rob us of our own-- No circumstance can make it less; What time removes was but a loan, For what was ours we still possess. Ella Wheeler Wilcox Quotes “every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us" No matter how unreasonable others may seem, I am responsible for not reacting negatively. Regardless of what is happening around me I will always have the prerogative, and the responsibility, of choosing what happens within me. I am the creator of my own reality. When I [review my day], I know that I must stop judging others. If I judge others, I am probably judging myself. Whoever is upsetting me most is my best teacher. I have much to learn from him or her, and in my hearts, I should thank that person. Bill Wilson Quotes also found in "Daily Reflections" for the day October 7 Bill Wilson Quotes “If you lose your wealth, you have lost nothing, If you lose your health, you have lost something, But if you lose your character, you have lost everything.” Woodrow Wilson Quotes "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." John Wooden Quotes If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product, and any man who devotes himself to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig. Woodrow Wilson Quotes What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. Victor Frankl Quotes It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. Sam Adams Quotes Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance. Thomas Carlyle Quotes A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes Abraham Lincoln did not go to Gettysburg having commissioned a poll to find out what would sell in Gettysburg. There were no people with percentages for him, cautioning him about this group or that group or what they found in exit polls a year earlier. When will we have the courage of Lincoln? Robert Coles Quotes People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes It is the duty of men to judge men only by their actions. Our faculties furnish us with no means of arriving at the motive, the character, the secret self. We call the tree good from its fruits, and the man, from his works. (sermon, October 15, 1826) Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes Judge of your natural character by what you do in your dreams. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes In the world to come, I shall not be asked, "Why were you not Moses?" I shall be asked, "Why were you not Zusya?" Rabbi Zusya Quotes Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller Quotes Dreams are the touchstones of our character. Henry David Thoreau Quotes How can we expect a harvest of thought who have not had a seedtime of character? Henry David Thoreau Quotes You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one. James A. Froude Quotes I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions, even though I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person and could have no comfortable place in any political group. [Letter to the US House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, 1952] Lillian Hellman Quotes Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character. Margaret Chase Smith Quotes To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. Mark Twain Quotes I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes There never was a good knife made of bad steel. Benjamin Franklin Quotes It is virtue, virtue, which both creates and preserves friendship. On it depends harmony of interest, permanence, fidelity. Cicero Quotes With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men. Clarence Darrow Quotes People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built. Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down within incredible swiftness. Faith Baldwin Quotes Character develops itself in the stream of life. Goethe Quotes 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. H. Jackson Brown Quotes Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. Anne Frank Quotes Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. Albert Einstein Quotes Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Abraham Lincoln Quotes 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. Abigail Van Buren Quotes Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln Quotes 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 Quotes Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established. Confucius Quotes Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street. Elbert Hubbard Quotes Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence. Elihu Burritt Quotes Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open. Elmer G. Letterman Quotes In attempts to improve your character, know what is in your power and what is beyond it. Francis Thompson Quotes 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 Quotes A man's character is his fate. Heraclitus Quotes People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest. Hermann Hesse Quotes The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character. Isabelle Eberhardt Quotes When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends. Japanese Proverb Quotes Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self respect springs. Joan Didion Quotes I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself. Lois McMaster Bujold Quotes One can acquire everything in solitude - except character. Marie Henri Beyle Quotes To succeed is nothing, it's an accident. but to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character. Marie Leneru Quotes The character of a man is known from his conversations. Menander Quotes I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments. Nathaniel Emmons Quotes The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Quotes Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character. Oscar Levant Quotes Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character. Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes 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 Quotes You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan Quotes Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. Sam Ewing Quotes Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem. W. Somerset Maugham Quotes 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 Quotes Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop. Tacitus Quotes Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. John Wooden Quotes