Quotes About Character

  1. What we think or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do. John Ruskin
  2. Another man’s soul is darkness. Russian proverb
  3. When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most disagreeable first. Josiah Quincy
  4. He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatness of soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported with the latter. Henry Fielding
  5. He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. John Milton
  6. Our lives teach us who we are. Salman Rushdie
  7. Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in his manner of portraying another. Jean Paul Richter
  8. Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe. Winston Churchill
  9. If you don’t have enemies, you don’t have character. Paul Newman
  10. It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself. Anna Eleanor Roosevelot
  11. Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened. Winston Churchill
  12. The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King Jr.
  13. Begin with praise and honest appreciation. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders…Make the fault easy to correct. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest. Dale Carnegie
  14. Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. Oprah Winfrey
  15. He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year. Leonardo da Vinci
  16. A person’s character is but half formed until after wedlock. Simmons
  17. You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. James D. Miles
  18. Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. Theodore Roosevelt
  19. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln
  20. Character is not made in a crisis it is only exhibited. Robert Freeman
  21. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Adams Keller
  22. Character is made by what you stand for; reputation by what you fall for. Robert Quillen
  23. The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better. John Dewey
  24. The proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he’s born. William R. Inge
  25. Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character. Albert Einstein
  26. Responsibility is the thing people dread most of all. Yet it is the one thing in the world that develops us, gives us man hood or womanhood fiber. Frank Crane
  27. You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jelly beans. Ronald Reagan
  28. Reputation is the shell a man discards when he leaves life for immortality. His character he takes with him. Anonymous
  29. Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures. Horace Greeley
  30. Always do right – this will gratify some and astonish the rest. Mark Twain
  31. Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow. Abraham Lincoln
  32. Every man has three characters: that which he shows that which he has, and that which he thinks he has. Alphonse Karr
  33. Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. Sir Winston Churchill
  34. Character is a subtle thing. Its sources are obscure, its roots delicate and invisible. We know it when we see it and it always commands our admiration, and the absence of it our pity; but it is largely a matter of will. Leo J. Muir
  35. If it ever came to a choice between compromising my moral principles and the performance of my duties, I know I’d go with my moral principles. Anonymous
  36. Man is not the sum of what he has but the totality of what he does not yet have, of what he might have. Jean-Paul Sartre
  37. In thy face I see The map of honour, truth, and loyalty William Shakespeare
  38. Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows. Charles Reade
  39. I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand. Baruch Spinoza
  40. A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was. Joseph Hall
  41. Why are we surprised when fig trees bear figs? Margaret Titzel
  42. It is easy to be tolerant of the principles of other people if you have none of your own. Herbert Samuel
  43. 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
  44. Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost. Arthur Schopenhauerv
  45. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us. Oliver Wendell Holmes
  46. Character is the foundation stone upon which one must build to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be erected on a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character. C. Samsel

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