Quotes About Character

As we have come to understand the psychology of evil, we have realized that such transformations of human character are not as rare as we would like to believe. Historical inquiry and behavioral science have demonstrated the "banality of evil" -- that is, under certain conditions and social pressures, ordinary people can commit acts that would otherwise be unthinkable.

In the end, I suspect, being female will do nothing for Sheba, except deny her the grandeur of genuine villainy.

If the traditional Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) are the basics that we want our children to master academically, then reverence, respect, and responsibility are the three Rs that our children need to master for the sake of their souls and the health of the world.

George is essentially a very good person'" Joan said, "But that is one of those meaningless sentences. What is a good person? Under the worst of circumstances, who can say what we would do? For all we know, we might be the worst people on earth.

A writer's duty is to draw a picture that expresses more inner beauty, deeper anxiety, and more complex tragedy than a real character ever can.

Don't be a leader to dictate, but be a person whom everyone wants to emulate and follow.

For an educated person, intelligence is important but character is more important.

To be a leader, you have to lead yourself first.

What you do defines you.

I've always thought that exceptional beauty was as great an affliction as any physical handicap—perhaps more so. It is so difficult for the beautiful person, male or female, to develop a good character, isn't it? The odds are stacked against them from the start.

As Abraham Lincoln reportedly put it, "nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

It was not that easy to convey to him, a man much older than she was, that the world was her world, too. He had taken a risk when he invited her to join him at his table. After all, she came with a whole life and libido of her own. It had not occurred to him that she might not consider herself to be the minor character and him the major character. In this sense, she had unsettled a boundary, collapsed a social hierarchy, broken with the usual rules.

The phantom of femininity is an illusion, a delusion, a societal hallucination. She is a very tricky character to play and it is a role (sacrifice, endurance, cheerful suffering) that has made some women go mad.

When a female writer walks a female character into the center of her literary enquiry (or a forest) and this character starts to project shadow and light all over the place, she will have to find a language that is in part to do with unknotting the ways in which she has been put together by the Societal System in the first place. She will have to be canny in how she sets about doing this because she will have many delusions of her own. In fact it would be best if she was uncanny.

It occurred to me that both Maria and I were on the run in the twenty-first century, just like George Sand whose name was also Amantine was on the run in the nineteenth century, and Maria whose name was also Zama was looking for somewhere to recover and rest in the twentieth. We were on the run from the lies concealed in the language of politics from myths about our character and our purpose in life. We were on the run from our own desires too probably, whatever they were.

When a female writer walks a female character in to the centre of her literary enquiry (or a forest) and this character starts to project shadow and light all over the place, she will have to find a language that is in part to do with learning how to become a subject rather than a delusion, and in part to do with unknotting the ways in which she has been put together by the societal system in the first place.

One of these men told me at a book festival that if he did not transgress too many boundaries in his marriage, there would always be a comforting pair of slippers warming for him by the fire...Will there ever be a comforting pair of slippers (pink, feathered) warming for me by the egg-shaped fireplace? Not unless I became a female character in a vintage Hollywood movie and paid a housekeeper to put them there.

Women are like tea bags; you never know how strong they are until they're put in hot water. — ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. PROVERBS 12:22

Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue" (PSALM 120:2 KJV).

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips…" (PSALM 12:3 KJV). Is flattery worth being cut off from the blessings of God?

I will show partiality to no one, nor will I flatter any man; for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away" (JOB 32:21-22).

To hide hatred is to be a liar; to slander is to be a fool. PROVERBS 10:18 NLT

TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Because I am in right standing with God, He surrounds me with favor. Therefore, I have no need to manipulate anyone for personal gain or advantage.