Quotes About Character

Self-respect is the early form in which greatness appears.

Dig, dig the foundation deep, young man. Plant firmly the outer wall; Let the props be strong and the roof be high. Build it well, whatever you do; Build it straight and strong and true; Build it clean and high and broad; Build it for the eye of God.

Every time we do wrong, every time we depart from the truth, every time we commit a dishonest, unworthy act, do a mean, contemptible thing, we lessen the Omnipotent grip upon us, and then we become a prey to all sorts of fears, apprehensions, dreads, and doubts.

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education, it was said by Professor Huxley, is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson which ought to be learned, and, however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson which he learns thoroughly.

No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger, says Beecher. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.

A man should be so much greater than any material failure that can come to him that it would scarcely be mentioned in his biography, and that it would be regarded as a mere incident in his career,—inconvenient, but not very important

Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until it has formed grooves in the brain-tissue and become dominant in the brain structure, and you have permanently changed the character in that direction. You have only to change your mind to a desired direction, holding it there tenaciously until you have formed a new mental habit. Then you are, in that particular, a new creature.

Even a momentary contact with a character of this kind seems to double our mental and soul powers, as two great dynamos double the current which passes over the wire, and we are loath to leave the magical presence lest we lose our new-born power. On

Luck is waiting for something to turn up; labor, with keen eye and strong will, will turn something up. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman would bring him news of a legacy; labor turns out at six o'clock, and, with busy pen or ringing hammer, lays a foundation for a competence. Luck whines; labor whistles. Luck relies on charms; labor depends on character. Luck slips down to indigence; labor strides upward to independence.

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, says Mary Wortley Montagu; nor any pleasure so lasting. Good books elevate the character, purify the taste, take the attractiveness out of low pleasures, and lift us upon a higher plane of thinking and living. It is not easy to be mean directly after reading a noble and inspiring book. The conversation of a man who reads for improvement or pleasure will be flavored by his reading; but it will not be about his reading.

Tis easy enough to be pleasant when life flows on like a song, But the man worthwhile is the man with a smile when everything goes dead wrong.

The Gods we worship write their names on our faces." The face is carved from within by invisible tools; our thoughts, our moods, our emotions are the chisels.

There is a very close connection between a fine, strong, clean physique and a fine, strong, clean character. A man who allows himself to become careless in regard to the one will, in spite of himself, fall away in the other.

Purity is power because it means integrity of thought, integrity of conduct. It means wholeness.

It is a law of nature, said Herodotus, "that faint-hearted men should be the fruit of luxurious countries; for we never find that the same soil produces delicacies and heroes.

No man can be great who allows himself to get angry.

I will remember this, thought Ender, when I am defeated. To keep dignity, and give honor where it's due, so that defeat is not disgrace. And I hope I don't have to do it often.

She will look at you as women look at men, and she will judge you as a woman judge men...not on the strength of their arguments, and not in their cleverness or prowess in battle, but rather on the force of their character, the intensity of their passion, their strength of soul, their compassion, and...ah, this above all...their conversation.

Good people aren't good because they never cause harm to others. They're good because they treat others the best way they know how, with the understanding that they have.

A character is what he does, yes - but even more, a character is what he means to do.

I'm not a liar, sir,' she said. 'No, I'm sure you sincerely become whatever it is you're pretending to be.

But Father has also taught him: Treat a man as if he had a fine reputation to protect, and he will usually endeavor to deserve it.

A person is what he says and does; that's how you learn whether his reputation was earned or manufactured.

Is it some law of human nature that you inevitably become whatever your first commander was?