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Quotes about Character

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Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.
- Elbert Hubbard, US author (1856 - 1915)

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
- Hermann Hesse, Swiss (German-born) author (1877 - 1962)

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.
- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, (1742 - 1799)

Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.
- Oscar Levant, (1906 - 1972)

Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

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, English dramatist & novelist (1874 - 1965)

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, US (Spanish-born) philosopher (1863 - 1952)

CP Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
- Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

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, 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.
- Confucius, Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)

Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German dramatist, novelist, poet, & scientist (1749 - 1832)

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.
- Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962)

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, Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)

The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., US jurist (1841 - 1935)

You can tell the character of every man when you see how he receives praise.
- Seneca, Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)

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, US blind & deaf educator (1880 - 1968)

Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self respect springs.
- Joan Didion, US author & journalist (1934 - )

The character of a man is known from his conversations.
- Menander, Greek comic dramatist (342 BC - 292 BC)

CP You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.
- James A. Froude, English historian (1818 - 1894)

In attempts to improve your character, know what is in your power and what is beyond it.
- Francis Thompson, English poet (1859 - 1907)

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.
- Solon, Greek lawgiver & politician in Athens (638 BC - 559 BC)

A man's character is his fate.
- Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (540 BC - 480 BC)

I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself.
- Lois McMaster Bujold, US science fiction author

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

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

One can acquire everything in solitude - except character.
- Marie Henri Beyle, French biographer & novelist (1783 - 1842)

Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence.
- Elihu Burritt

Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.
- Elmer G. Letterman

To succeed is nothing, it's an accident. but to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.
- Marie Leneru

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