Quotes About 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.

Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.

You cannot judge a man's life by the success of a moment, by the victory of an hour, or even by the results of a year. You must view his life as a whole. You must stand where you can see the man as he treads the entire path that leads from the cradle to the grave -- now crossing the plain, now climbing the steeps, now passing through pleasant fields, now wending his way with difficulty between rugged rocks -- tempted, tried, tested, triumphant.

But if each day we gather some new truths, plant ourselves more firmly upon principles which are eternal, guard every thought and action, that it may be pure, and conform our lives more nearly to that Perfect Model, we shall form a character that will be a fit background on which to paint the noblest deeds and the grandest intellectual and moral achievements; a character that cannot be concealed, but which will bring success in this life and form the best preparation for that which is beyond.

No one can earn a million dollars honestly.

But the person who scored well on an SAT will not necessarily be the best doctor or the best lawyer or the best businessman. These tests do not measure character, leadership, creativity, perseverance.

In every sinner is the possibility of a saint.

But I know you, brother. And I know you got all the substance of a soap bubble.

We were, all of us, prisoners of our character, unable to alter our true inner natures. When we said we had changed, what had only really changed was our luck. Put us in the same circumstances as our previous folly and suddenly we'd revert, all of us, to what we were. That's what I believed

The greatest spirits of the heathen world, such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Epictetus, Marcus Antonius, etc., owed all their greatness to the spirit of devotion.

The poetry of each age may be considered as vitally connected with, and as vividly reflective of, its character and progress, as either its politics or its religion.

The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.

This is the first test of a gentleman his respect for those who can be of no possible value to him.

This is the final test of a gentleman: His respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.

Costner's film captured the main character's motives, while removing 30 IQ points.

It was silly to suppose that trials only hardened men, automatically making them wise. He knew many who were stupid, arrogant, and mean, in spite of having suffered.

He who meanly admires mean things is a Snob.

Those who forgets their friends to follow those of a higher status are truly snobs.

If a man's character is to be abused, say what you will, there's nobody like a relative to do the business.

Mrs. Penmark said that she was, adding that the child, almost from babyhood, had been something of a riddle both to herself and her husband. It was a thing difficult to isolate, or identify, but there was a strangely mature quality in the child's character which they found disturbing.

You are a hedgehog, my friend. A walking, talking hedgehog.

A man will be known by his books.

Bush Sr. was a jerk, Quayle an idiot, Clinton was atrocious and disgusting, most of those who persecuted him were hypocritical, Gore is shallow and weak, Bradley is an idealist, Bush Jr. a fool, and all of the independent candidates act like they're on drugs.

What is the quality you most like in a man? The ability to return books.