Quotes About Character

Great thought speak only to the thoughtful mind ,but great actions speak to all mankind.

If we say of a boy or a man, "He is of good character," we mean that he does not do a great many things that are wrong, and we also mean that he does do a great many things which imply much effort of will and readiness to face what is disagreeable. He must not steal, he must not be intemperate, he must not be vicious in any way; he must not be mean or brutal; he must not bully the weak. In fact, he must refrain from whatever is evil. But besides refraining from evil, he must do good.

To educate a person without teaching ethics is to create a menace to society.

A man can of course hold public office, and many a man does hold public office, and lead a public career of a sort, even if there are other men who possess secrets about him which he cannot afford to have divulged. But no man can lead a public career really worth leading, no man can act with rugged independence in serious crises, nor strike at great abuses, nor afford to make powerful and unscrupulous foes, if he is himself vulnerable in his private character.

Unless a man is master of his soul all other kinds of mastery amount to little.

Wer stark ist, kann sich erlauben leise zu sprechen.

Love of peace is common among weak, short-sighted, timid, and lazy persons; and on the other hand courage is found among many men of evil temper and bad character.

If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base and sordid creature, no matter how successful.

But we must keep steadily in mind that no people were ever yet benefited by riches if their prosperity corrupted their virtue.

There is not one among us in whom a devil does not dwell; at some time, on some point, that devil masters each of us…it is not having been in the Dark House, but having left it that counts.

I do not like to see young Christians with shoulders that slope like a champagne bottle.

Tremble in His midst so as to never falter in the midst of the grave responsibilities of life. Humility properly placed is the only sure foundation of leadership.

Love of peace is common among weak, short-sighted, timid, and lazy persons; and on the other hand courage is found among many men of evil temper and bad character. Neither quality shall by itself avail.

To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.

Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.

Lying eats into the soul. If it becomes a habit it frays the edge of your spirit. Truth telling, although sometimes harder to do, strengthens your heart. It serves a person ill not to tell the truth.

He had shrewd, on the spot judgement about human nature. Good sense with good manners and the practice of contentment made up in his view a large part of wisdom.

Make me the father, O Lord, who will show my sons enough of a sense of humor, so that they will always be serious, but never take themselves too seriously. Give them humility, so they will always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

The good devout man first makes inner preparation for the actions he has later to perform. His outward actions do not draw him into lust and vice; rather it is he who bends them into the shape of reason and right judgement. Who has a stiffer battle to fight than the man who is striving to conquer himself.

Learned arguments do not make a man holy and righteous, whereas a good life makes him dear to God.

All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it.

It is not really a small thing when in small things we resist self.

He who shunneth not small faults falleth little by little into greater.