Character 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.

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

Our destiny changes with our thought; we shall become what
we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual
thought corresponds with our desire....Orison S. Marsden.

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes
character to keep you there....John Wooden.

It's motive alone which gives character to
the actions of men....Jean De La Bruyère.

Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company
you keep; for your habits and character will be as much
influenced by the former as by the latter....Paxton Hood.

Change is an easy panacea. It takes character to stay
in one place and be happy there....Elizabeth C. Dunn.

The highest qualities of character…must be earned....Lyman Abbott.

Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing
the class of things a man chooses or avoids....Aristotle.

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

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

Character is the result of two things:
Mental attitude and the way we spend our time....Elbert Hubbard.

By constant self-discipline and self-control you can
develop greatness of character....Grenville Kleiser.

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.

If you create an act, you create a habit. If you
create a habit, you create a character. If you create
a character, you create a destiny....Andre Maurois.

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....Frank Outlaw.

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

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....Jim Rohn.

Character is the basis of happiness and happiness
the sanction of character....George Santayana.

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....Leon Trotsky.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man....Booker T. Washington.

The discipline of desire is the background of character....John Locke.

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....Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Good character....is not given to us.
We have to build it piece by piece-by thought,
choice, courage and determination....John Luther.

Of all the properties which belong to honorable men,
not one is so highly prized as that of character....Henry Clay.

The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to plant their
whole life in the hands of some other person. I would describe this
method of searching for happiness as immature. Development of character
consists solely in moving toward self-sufficiency....Quentin Crisp.

Research has determined that people who are immediately liked by
everyone share certain characteristics that can be emulated:
they tend to smile more and greet people more warmly. They use
people's names at least two or three times in the first couple
of minutes. For the first couple of minutes they usually carry
the conversation, but after that they become listeners -- and
interested listeners. They send out the messages: "I like you,
I respect you, I'm interested in you, I'm glad I met you and
whatever you say has great interest to me"....John T. Molloy.

Character is higher than intellect....Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Greatness is not found in possessions, power,
position or prestige. It is discovered in goodness,
humility, service and character....William Arthur Ward.

If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty
in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there
will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the
nation, there will be peace in the world....Chinese Proverb.

Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions
determine your habits. Your habits determine your character.
And your character gives birth to your destiny....Unknown.

How a man plays the game shows something of his
character, how he loses shows all of it....Unknown.

Like a fence, character cannot be strengthened by whitewash....American Proverb.

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....R. C. Samsel.

The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in
anything else. The basis of all integrity and character is
whatever faith we have in our own integrity....Roy L. Smith.

You can't truthfully explain your smallest action
without fully revealing your character....Unknown.

What man's mind can create, man's
character can control....Thomas A. Edison.

There is no greater wonder than the way the face and
character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and
stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems
it was the thing he most wanted....Robert Louis Stevenson.

Great persons are great because of good, strong foundations on
which they were able to build a character....Alfred Armand Montapert.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you
enthrone in your heart; by this you will build your life. This
you will become. Thought and character are one. Good thoughts
bear good fruit. The higher a man lifts his thoughts, the greater
his achievement. Cherish your dreams and ideals. Keep your goal
forever in mind, for as a man thinks, so he is....James Allen.

I was brought up on the romance of American achievement. No matter
where you start, if you work hard and if you think positively and
if you dream dreams and if you have good character, you can lift
the status of yourself, your family, your friends and everyone
around you. This doesn't mean that your object in life is to become
rich or famous. Just do the best you can with yourself. I think that
Almighty God has put that into us and I'm going to do the best I can
with myself. That's what I call the romance of achievement. Achievement
means to be what, by the grace of God, you can be....Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

Action is character....Unknown.

Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of
hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of
character but strengthen it. Every conquering temptation represents a
new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right
spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before....James Buckham.

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those
endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All
depends on the principals which direct them....Napoleon Bonaparte.

It is in the character of very few men to honor
without envy a friend who has prospered....Aeschylus.

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....Henry Ward Beecher.

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.

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

Every man has three characters -- that
which he exhibits, that which he has, and
that which he thinks he has....Alphonse Karr.

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

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

Instill the love of you into all the world, for a
good character is what is remembered....Merikare.

A man's reputation is what other people think of
him; his character is what he really is....Jack Miner.

Character is much easier kept than recovered....Thomas Paine.

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

Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him....African Proverb.

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

The four cornerstones of character on which the structure
of this nation was built are: initiative, imagination,
individuality, and independence....Edward Vernon Rickenbacker.

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....Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Fame is what you have taken, character is what you give. When to
this truth you awaken, then you begin to live....Bayard Taylor.

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

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

The test of any man's character is how he takes praise....Unknown.

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

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....John Wooden.

I have discovered that we may be in some
degree whatever character we choose. Besides,
practice forms a man to anything....James Boswell.

The law of harvest is to reap more than
you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit.
Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a
character and you reap a destiny....James Allen.

Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in
action; actions form habits; habits decide charcter;
and character fixes our destiny....Tryon Edwards.

We learn our virtues from our friends who love us;
our faults from the enemy who hates us. We cannot
easily discover our real character from a friend.
He is a mirror, on which the warmth of our breath
impedes the clearness of the reflection....Jean Paul Richter.

The history of all the great characters of the Bible is
summed up in this one sentence: They acquainted themselves
with God, and acquiesced His will in all things....Richard Cecil.

Habits change into character....Ovid.

Happiness must be cultivated. It is like character.
It is not a thing to be safely let alone for a moment,
or it will run to weeds....Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to
maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles,
the character of an honest man....George Washington.

Integrity: A name is the blueprint of the thing
we call character. You ask, What's in a name? I
answer, Just about everything you do....Morris Mandel.

Nothing shows a man's character more than what
he laughs at....Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

It is a beautiful trait in the lovers character, that they
think no evil of the object loved....Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Luck relies on chance, labor on character....Richard Cobden.

Moderation is an ostentatious proof of our
strength of character....Francois De La Rochefoucauld.

I care not what others think of what I do, but
I care very much about what I think of what
I do! That is character!...Theodore Roosevelt.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to
test a man's character, give him power....Abraham Lincoln.

His reputation is what men say he is. That can be damaged; but
reputation is for time, character is for eternity....John B. Gough.

If I take care of my character, my reputation
will take care of me....Dwight L. Moody.

Something of a person's character may be observed by how they
smile. Some never smile they only grin....Christian Nevell Bovee.

There are many kinds of smiles, each having a distinct character. Some
announce goodness and sweetness, others betray sarcasm, bitterness and
pride; some soften the countenance by their languishing tenderness,
others brighten by their spiritual vivacity....Johann Kaspar Lavater.

One can acquire everything in solitude except character....Henri B. Stendhal.

Reputation is what men and women think of us. Character
is what God and the angels know of us....Thomas Paine.

Strong character is brought out by change,
weak ones by permanence...Jean Paul.

Integrate what you believe in every single area of your life.
Take your heart to work and ask the most and best of everybody
else, too. Don't let your special character and values, the secret
that you know and no one else does, the truth -- don't let that
get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency....Meryl Streep.

Character is what you are in the dark....Dwight L. Moody.

Friendship is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we
think, to be loyal to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins.
Love between a man and a woman is fouded on the mating instinct and is not
free from desire and self-seeking. But to have a friend and be true under
any and all trials is the mark of a man!....Charles Alexander Eastman.

Moral courage and character go hand in hand....a man of real
character is consistently courageous, being imbued with a basic
integrity and a firm sense of principle....Martha Boaz.

Character is developed one positive action at a time.
Therefore nothing is actually trivial in our lives. To grow in
character development, pay attention to seemingly trivial matters.
Someone who grows from each minor life event will eventually reach
high levels of character perfection....Rabbi Zelig Pliskin.

Our character is basically a composite of our habits.
Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they
constantly, daily, express our character....Stephen Covey.

....character may almost be called the most
effective means of persuasion....Aristotle.

Don't worry so much about your self-esteem. Worry more about your
character. Integrity is its own reward....Laura Schlessinger.

Character is developed by two simple words...."yes" and "no"....Unknown.

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