Quotes by Subject: Character
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You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do. | |||
History is the record of an encounter between character and circumstances. | |||
Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them. | |||
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. | |||
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them. | |||
Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. | |||
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. | |||
The strongest man in the world is he who stands alone. | |||
Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think. | |||
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. | |||
There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success. | |||
Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. | |||
Courage... is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. | |||
The definition of courage is grace under fire. | |||
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. | |||
Honesty is a good thing, but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control. | |||
They will say you are on the wrong road, if it is your own. | |||
My future is one I must make myself. | |||
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. | |||
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. | * | ||
Champions take responsibility. When the ball is coming over the net, you can be sure I want the ball. | |||
First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do. | * | ||
Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company. | |||
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. | |||
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. | |||
There is no surer way to the dislike of men than to behave well where they have behaved badly. | |||
Lord, where we are wrong, make us willing to change; where we are right, make us easy to live with. | |||
Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm. | |||
Courage is the capacity to conduct oneself with restraint in times of prosperity and with courage and tenacity when things do not go well. | |||
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. | * | ||
The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. | |||
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. | |||
Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you car. | |||
The more opinions you have, the less you see. | * | ||
Become who you are. | |||
It's no trick to make a lot of money, if all you want to do is make a lot of money. (Citizen Kane, 1940) | |||
Being on a tightrope is living; everything else is waiting. | |||
I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I become that person. Or he became me. | * | ||
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. | * | ||
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. | |||
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. | |||
You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. | |||
Let him that would move the world, first move himself. | * | ||
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. | * | ||
When we see men of contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. | |||
It is by acts and not by ideas that people live. | |||
Character is action. | |||
The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune. | |||
Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are. | |||
All virtue is summed up in dealing justly. | |||
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. | |||
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. | |||
It is right to be content with what we have, never with what we are. | |||
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. | |||
Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. | |||
Loyalty isn't standing by someone when he's right. That's good judgement. Loyalty is standing by someone when he's wrong. | |||
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. | |||
Everyone tries to define this thing called Character. It's not hard. Character is doing what's right when nobody's looking. | |||
There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at. | |||
Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can. | |||
Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in the four c's. They are curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestioningly. | |||
It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them. | |||
We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it. | |||
To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give. | |||
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. | |||
If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have know will go to heaven, and very , very few persons. | |||
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world. | |||
I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts. | |||
Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning. | |||
I like persons better than principles, and I like persons with no principles better than anything else in the world. | |||
Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength. | |||
Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. | * | ||
Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace. | * | ||
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. | * | ||
Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. | |||
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking. | |||
Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts. | |||
The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues. | |||
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. | * | ||
Not being able to govern events, I govern myself. | |||
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence. | |||
The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers. | |||
I like men who have a future and women who have a past. | |||
Integrity has no need of rules. | |||
I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it? | * | ||
All mortals tend to turn into the things they are pretending to be. | |||
If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. | |||
I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic. | |||
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest. | * | ||
In order to preserve your self-respect, it is sometimes necessary to lie and cheat. | |||
Integrity has no need of rules. | |||
The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others. | |||
It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf. | * | ||
*indicates a past Quote of The Week
