The highest qualities of character must be earned.
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.
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.
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
It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.
The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.
Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.
Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.
Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.
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.
The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.
If you don't run your own life, somebody else will.
When about to commit a base deed, respect thyself, though there is no witness.
Property may be destroyed and money may lose its purchasing power; but, character, health, knowledge and good judgment will always be in demand under all conditions.
Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down with incredible swiftness.
During my eighty-seven years, I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think.
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.
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7]
— Bible
Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades.
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.
Character is victory organized.
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.
All men are alike in their lower natures; it is in their higher characters that they differ.
You don't get in life what you want; you get in life what you are.
It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
Temperance is a tree which as for its root very little contentment, and for its fruit calm and peace.
— Buddha
There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he is absolutely free to choose.
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.
Integrity has no need of rules.
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.
Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.
Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do.
Be your character what it will, it will be known; and nobody will take it upon your word.
Character must be kept bright as well as clean.
You must look into people, as well as at them.
Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.
As fire when thrown into water is cooled down and put out, so also a false accusation when brought against a man of the purest and holiest character, boils over and is at once dissipated, and vanishes and threats of heaven and sea, himself standing unmoved.
Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.
Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.
The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself.
To be fond of learning is near to wisdom; to practice with vigor is near to benevolence; and to be conscious of shame is near to fortitude. He who knows these three things
When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character
It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize.
Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses.
No artist work is so high, so noble, so grand, so enduring, so important for all time, as the making of character is a child.
Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.
There is no greater index of character so sure as the voice.
You can construct the character of a man and his age not only from what he does and says, but from what he fails to say and do.
Therefore keep in the midst of life. Do not isolate yourself. Be among men and things, and among troubles, and difficulties, and obstacles.
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.
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?
No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.
Judge of your natural character by what you do in dreams.
Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
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.
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs.
Do what you know and perception is converted into character.
A character is like an acrostic or Alexandrian stanza; read it forward, backward, or across, it still spells the same thing.
One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.
Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold.
Character is the sum and total of a person's choices.
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.
You can buy a person's time; you can buy their physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of their skilled muscular motions per hour. But you can not buy enthusiasm... you can not buy loyalty. You can not buy the devotion of hearts, minds, or souls. You must earn these.
The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
Old age and sickness bring out the essential characteristics of a man.
Character is not made in a crisis -- it is only exhibited.
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.
Human improvement is from within outward.
Deep down, I'm pretty superficial.
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.
Success is always temporary. When all is said and one, the only thing you'll have left is your character.
Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable.
Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.
Character develops itself in the stream of life.
The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.
Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.
Character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.
You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.
When God measures man, He puts the tape around his heart -- not his head.
The happiness of every country depends upon the character of its people, rather than the form of its government.
A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.
There's a fine line between character building and soul destroying.
To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.
Man's character is his fate.
A man's character is his guardian divinity.
Character is our destiny.
Character is to man what carbon is to steel.
Those who cross the sea change only the climate, not their character.
— Horace
Character is power; it makes friends, draws patronage and support and opens the way to wealth, honor and happiness.
It isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, that counts.
Character is the result of two things: Mental attitude and the way we spend our time.
Character is the result of a system of stereotyped principals.
What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?
No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.
I have often thought the best way to define a man's character would be to seek out the particular mental or moral attitude in which, when it comes upon him, he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: This is the real me!.
It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.
The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioned our characters in the wrong way.
It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate -- to surmount every difficulty by resolution and contrivance.
Few people can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse.
Everyone has three characters, that which they exhibit, that which they have, and that which they think they have.
Every man has three characters -- that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.
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.
I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
By constant self-discipline and self-control you can develop greatness of character.
Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended.
Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.
You are not very good if you are not better than your best friends imagine you to be.
Action, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell character.
You can't go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do.
To succeed is nothing -- it's an accident. But to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.
Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.
A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.
Character matters; leadership descends from character.
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.
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
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.
We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.
Between ourselves and our real natures we interpose that wax figure of idealizations and selections which we call our character.
In this world a man must either be anvil or hammer.
They are slaves who fear to speak, for the fallen and the weak.
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.
Your character will be what you yourself choose to make it.
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.
The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
Sound character provides the power with which a person may ride the emergencies of life instead of being overwhelmed by them. Failure is... the highway to success.
It is well to think well. It is divine to act well.
Character is the indelible mark that determines the only true value of all people and all their work.
We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities.
While an original is always hard to find, he is easy to recognize.
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.
Instill the love of you into all the world, for a good character is what is remembered.
— Merikare
Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
Look, we're all the same; a man is a fourteen-room house --in the bedroom he's asleep with his intelligent wife, in the living-room he's rolling around with some bareass girl, in the library he's paying his taxes, in the yard he's raising tomatoes, and in the cellar he's making a bomb to blow it all up.
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;
A man's reputation is what other people think of him; his character is what he really is.
If anyone tells you someone has changed their character; don't believe it.
— Mohammed
If we have need of a strong will in order to do good, it is still more necessary for us in order not to do evil.
— Mole
Too many lives are needed to make just one.
Character is what you are in the dark.
A character is a completely fashioned will.
— Novalis
Character development is the aim of education.
— O'Shea
Reputation is what men and women think of us. Character is what God and the angels know of us.
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards, himself his own dungeon.
Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly ones own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man.
Character is the impulse reined down into steady continuance.
I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself.
How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.
When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.
— Plato
I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.
Character is simply habit long continued.
— Plutarch
Honor and shame from no condition rise; Act well your part, there all the honor lies.
If an ass goes traveling it will not come home a horse.
— Proverb
One can easily judge the character of a person by the way they treat people who can do nothing for them.
— Proverb
Some people are born hammers, others anvils.
— Proverb
Wherever man goes to dwell his character goes with him.
If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow.
Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.
A rich man has no need of character.
You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans.
The real character of a man is found out by his amusements.
To have character is to be big enough to take life on.
A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another s.
Strong characters are brought out by change of situation, and gentle ones by permanence.
The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: initiative, imagination, individuality, and independence.
Surmounting difficulty is the crucible that forms character.
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.
It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.
Football doesn't build character. It eliminates weak ones.
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.
Character is the basis of happiness and happiness the sanction of character.
It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best reveals his character.
Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life.
The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.
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.
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.
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
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.
Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.
Fame is what you have taken, character is what you give. When to this truth you awaken, then you begin to live.
If a man character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business.
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.
You must regulate your life by the standards you admire when you are at your best.
We know but a few men, a great many coats and breeches.
Pity the man who has a character to support --it is worse than a large family -- he is silent poor indeed.
The universe seems bankrupt as soon as we begin to discuss the characters of individuals.
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.
While he was not as dumb as an ox, he was not any smarter either.
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.
To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours.
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.
You can't truthfully explain your smallest action without fully revealing your character.
Before you advise anyone Be yourself! reassess his character.
The test of any man's character is how he takes praise.
The higher character a person supports the more they should regard their smallest actions.
It is better for the development of character and contentment to do certain things badly for yourself than to have them done better for you by someone else.
Nothing marks the character of a young man more than failure.
Clothes don't tell the character of the man, but they just as well talk for him as against him.
Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted.
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.
If you don't like your own character there may be a new one ready-made and waiting for you. The snake sheds its skin with impunity, relying on the same nature which you rely on.
Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one.
The lord will not hold back the promises, even if the person who makes them is not worthy.
Character is like the foundation of a house -- it is below the surface.
Character is another thing that is formed in youth and reformed in marriage.
Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity.
Character is a victory, not a gift.
They attack the one man with their hate and their shower of weapons. But he is like some rock which stretches into the vast sea and which, exposed to the fury of the winds and beaten against by the waves, endures all the violence
— Virgil
The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it.
— Voltaire
Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.
Character is power.
Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
Nothing endures but personal qualities.
It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man's deeper nature is soon found out.
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.
Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty.
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.
The man that makes a character, makes foes.