Return Home	The Credits	The Cast	Act 1	Act 2	Act 3	The End	The Reviews	Photos

	CHARACTER . . . [QUOTES FOLLOW LINKS] see: BRAVERY BREEDING CLASS, CLEAN LIVING CONSCIENCE COURAGE DIGNITY DUTY ETHICS EXAMPLE FAIR FAULTS GOODNESS HEROES HONESTY, HONOR HUMILITY INDIVIDUALITY INNER QUALITIES INTEGRITY KINDNESS LOYALTY MODESTY MORALITY PERSEVERANCE PRIDE, PRINCIPLES PROMISE(S) REFINED REPUTATION, RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECTIBILITY RIGHT, RIGHT & WRONG SACRIFICE SCRUPLES SELF-CONTROL SELF-RESPECT STRENGTH, STRUGGLING TAKING RESPONSIBILITY TRUTH VALUES VIRTUE The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men. --Samuel Adams (1722—1803) American revolutionary leader. Letter to James Warren [4 November 1775]. A thick skin is a gift from God. --Konrad Adenauer (1876—1967) German statesman. In "New York Times" [30 December 1959]. You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him. --Leo Aikman In Anne Bruce _Building A HIgh Morale Workplace_, p. 87 [2002] Our characters are a result of our conduct. --Aristotle (384—322 B.C.) Greek philosopher When you have discovered a stain in yourself, you eagerly seek for and gladly find stains in others. --Berthold Auerbach (1812—1882) German novelist The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out. --Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay (1800—1859) English politician and historian. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter is not a nice person. --Dave Barry (1947— ) American humorist. - No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. 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. --Henry Ward Beecher (1813—1887) American Congregational minister; brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, son of Lyman Beecher. _Life Thoughts: Gathered from the Extemporaneous Discourses of Henry Ward Beecher_ [1858] The prouder a man is, the more he thinks he deserves; and the more he thinks he deserves, the less he really does deserve. --Henry Ward Beecher (1813—1887) American Congregational minister; brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, son of Lyman Beecher. _Royal Truths_ [1866] The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness, and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. --Henry Ward Beecher (1813—1887) American Congregational minister; brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, son of Lyman Beecher. _Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit_ [1870] Happiness is not the end of life; character is. --Henry Ward Beecher (1813—1887) American Congregational minister; brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, son of Lyman Beecher. - Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful. --Jacqueline Bisset (1944— ) British-born American actress. _Los Angeles Times_ [16 May 1974], "Actress with 3 Countries" Sports do not build character. They reveal it. --Heywood Hale Broun (1918—2001) American sportswriter and sports commentator; son of Heywood Broun. Quoted in James Michener _Sports in America_ [1976]. Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. --H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (1940— ) American author. Fine natures are like fine poems; a glance at the first two lines suffices for a guess into the beauty that waits you if you read on. --Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803—1873) British novelist and politician. Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause; He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws. --Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821—1890) English scholar-explorer and Orientalist. The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi. or. “Lay of the Higher Law” [1880] Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. --Dale Carnegie (1888—1955) American writer and lecturer. If the misery of others leaves you indifferent and with no feeling of sorrow, then you cannot be called a human being. --Jimmy Carter (1924— ) American Democratic statesman, President [1977—1981]. _Keeping Faith_ [1982] Every one is the son of his own works. --Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616) Spanish novelist, _Don Quixote de la Mancha_ [1605—1615] Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty. --Coco Chanel (1883—1971) French fashion designer. - You must look into people as well as at them. --Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773) British writer and politician. The heart never grows better by age; I fear rather worse; always harder. A young liar will be an old one; and a young knave will only be a greater knave as he grows older. --Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773) British writer and politician. - If you stand straight do not fear a crooked shadow. --Chinese Proverb Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character. --Henry Clay (1777—1852) American politician. He that is good will infallibly become better, and he that is bad will as certainly become worse; for vice, virtue, and time are three things that never stand still. --C.C. Colton (1780—1832) English clergyman and writer. - When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. --Confucius (551—479 B.C.) K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher. Observe a man's actions; scrutinize his motives; take note of the things that give him pleasure. How, then, can he hide from you what he really is? --Confucius (551—479 B.C.) K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher. - - We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. We do not need more government, we need more culture. We do not need more law, we need more religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen. If the foundation be firm, the foundation will stand. --Calvin Coolidge (1872—1933) American Republican statesman and President [1923—1929]. Commencement Address at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts [17 June 1921]. Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character. --Calvin Coolidge (1872—1933) American Republican statesman and President [1923—1929]. - We come to know best what men are, in their worse jeopardies. --Samuel Daniel (1562—1619) English poet and dramatist. _To Henry Wriothesley Earl of Southampton_ Characters never change. Opinions alter — characters are only developed. --Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881) British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880]. - Character is higher than intellect. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. _The American Scholar_, sec. 3 [1837] What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. The only reward of virtue is virtue. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. "Friendship" _Essays_, First Series [1841] No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. "Character" _Essays_, Second Series [1844] The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. "Worship" _The Conduct of Life_ [1860] Don't SAY things. What you ARE stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882) American philosopher and poet. "Social Aims" _Letters and Social Aims_ [1876] - Difficulties are things that show what men are. --Epictetus (55—135) Greek philosopher. We should not be too hasty in bestowing either our praise or censure on mankind, since we shall often find such a mixture of good and evil in the same character, that it may require a very accurate judgment and a very elaborate inquiry to determine on which side the balance turns. --Henry Fielding (1707—1754) English novelist and dramatist. Quoted in Mathew Carey (ed.) _The School of Wisdom, or, American Monitor_ p.59 [2nd ed. 1803]. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man. --W. C. Fields [William Claude Dukenfield] (1880—1946) American vaudeville star and film actor. A favorite saying and title of one of his films, quoted in Robert Lewis Taylor _W.C. Fields, His Follies and Fortunes [1949]. Men show their true character in nothing more clearly than in their bank account, dahling. --Zsa Zsa Gabor [Sari Gabor] (1919— ) Hungarian-born film actress. - Character is property — it is the noblest of possessions. --Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869—1948) Indian statesman and leader of the nationalistic movement against British rule. All of your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and Wordsworth would be vain if at the same time you did not build your character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions. --Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869—1948) Indian statesman and leader of the nationalistic movement against British rule. - Talents are best nurtured in solitude; character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832) German poet, novelist, and playwright. A man is what he is, not what men say he is. His character no man can touch. His character is what he is before his God and his Judge; and only himself can damage that. His reputation is what men say he is. That can be damaged; but reputation is for time, character is for eternity. --John Bartholomew Gough (1817—1886) English-born American social reformer. Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today will curse tomorrow; only one thing endures — character. --Horace Greeley (1811—1872) American newspaper editor. A man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city; he cannot govern a city if he cannot govern a family; he cannot govern a family unless he can govern himself; and he cannot govern himself unless his passions are subject to reason. --Hugo Grotius (1583—1645) Dutch philosopher. playwright, and poet. To look up and not down, To look forward and not back, To look out and not in — and To lend a hand. --Edward Everett Hale (1822—1909) American clergyman, writer, and chaplain of the Senate. "Ten Times One is Ten" [1870] Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. --Alex Hamilton (1936— ) British writer and broadcaster. "Born Old" (radio broadcast) in "Listener" [9 November 1978]. A good character is, in all cases, the fruit of personal exertion. It is not inherited from parents, it is not created by external advantages, it is no necessary appendage of birth, wealth, talents or station; but it is the result of one's own endeavors. --Joel Hawes D.D. (1789—1867) American clergyman. A man's character is his fate. --Heraclitus (c.535—475 B.C.) Greek philosopher. _On the Universe_ (fragment 121) What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809—1894) American physician, poet, and essayist. A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company. --Charles Evans Hughes (1862—1948) American professor of law, politician, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court [1930—1941]. Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots. --Victor Hugo (1802—1885) French poet, dramatist, and novelist. Whenever two people meet there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other sees him, and each man as he really is. --William James (1842—1910) American philosopher. If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses, let us count our spoons. --Samuel Johnson (1709—1784) English poet, critic, and lexicographer. In James Boswell _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ [1791] "14 July 1773". No one ever became thoroughly bad all at once. [Lat., Nemo repente venit turpissimus.] --Juvenal (c. 55—130) Roman satirist. _Satires_, II, 33 Every man has three characters — that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has. --Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1808—1890) French novelist and journalist. Attributed in Louis Klopsch _Many Thoughts of Many Minds_, p. 37 [1896]. - Though I've belted you an' flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din! --Rudyard Kipling (1865—1936) English writer and poet. "Gunga Din" st. 5, [1892] If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too. If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise. If you can dream — and not make dreams your master, If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same. If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much. If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And — which is more — you'll be a Man, my son! --Rudyard Kipling (1865—1936) English writer and poet. "If" [1910] - I know I have a first-rate mind, but that's no source of pride to me. Intelligent people are a dime a dozen. But I am proud of having character. --Henry Alfred Kissinger (1923— ) German-born American diplomat. Attributed, in Richard Valeriani _Travels With Henry_ [1979]. Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended. --François de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680) French classical author. Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character. --Oscar Levant (1906—1972) American pianist and actor. "Memoirs of an Amnesiac" [1965] If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so surely as by a jest which he takes badly. --Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742—1799) German scientist and drama critic. _Aphorisms_ [1765—1799], aphorism 46 - Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. --Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865) American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865]. Quoted in Anthony Gross _Lincoln's Own Stories [1912]. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. --Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865) American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865]. - - Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882) American poet. _A Psalm of Life_ [1839] Not in the clamor of the crowded street, Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882) American poet. - - The wisest man could ask no more of Fate Than to be simple, modest, manly, true, Safe from the Many, honored by the Few; To count as naught in World, or Church, or State, But inwardly in secret to be great. --James Russell Lowell (1819—1891) American poet, critic, essayist, and diplomat. "Jeffries Wyman" [1874] It is by presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of a man is tested. --James Russell Lowell (1819—1891) American poet, critic, essayist, and diplomat. - You must believe in yourself, my son, or no one else will believe in you, Be self-confident, self- reliant, and even if you don't make it, you will know you have done your best. Now, go to it. --Mary Hardy MacArthur, advice to her son Douglas on the morning of his West Point examination, quoted in Douglas MacArthur _Reminiscences_ [1964]. The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. --Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800—1859) English politician and historian. There is no better indication of a man's character than the company which he keeps. --Niccolò Machiavelli (1469—1527) Florentine statesman and political philosopher. _The Discourses_, 3.34 [1517] I am persuaded that he who is capable of being a bitter enemy can never possess the necessary virtues that constitute a true friend. --William Melmoth _Fitzosborne's Letters, on Several Subjects_ [1815] A man's character is revealed by his speech. --Menander (343?—291 B.C.) Greek dramatist. "Fragment" 72, tr. Francis G. Allinson [1921] Poverty of possessions may easily be cured, but poverty of soul never. --Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533—1592) French moralist and essayist. _Essays_, bk. III, ch. 10 [1588] Character is what you are in the dark. --Dwight Lyman Moody (1837—1899) American evangelist and publisher. In Martin H. Manser's _The Westminster Collection of Christian Quotations_ [2001], "Character." Believe, if thou wilt, that mountains change their places, but believe not that man changes his nature. --Muhammad (A.D. 570?—632) Prophet to whom the religion of Islam was revealed. Character is much easier kept than recovered. --Thomas Paine [spelled Pane prior to 1774] (1737—1809) English-American writer and political pamphleteer. "The American Crisis", no. 13 [19 April 1783] The highest of characters, in my estimation, is his, who is as ready to pardon the moral errors of mankind, as if he were every day guilty of some himself; and at the same time as cautious of committing a fault as if he never forgave one. --Pliny the Younger or Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (62—c.115) Roman senator and author of a famous collection of letters. _Epistles_, VIII, 22 Character is simply habit long continued. --Plutarch (A.D. 46?—119?) Greek philosopher and biographer. Attributed in W. Gurney Benham _A Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words_ [1907] Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. --Alexander Pope (1688—1744) English poet. _Rape of the Lock_, canto V, l. 34 The real character of a man is found out by his amusements. --Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723—1792) English painter. For when the one great scorer comes To write against your name, He writes not that you won or lost, But how you played the game. --Grantland Rice (1880—1954) American sports writer. Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in his manner of portraying another. --Jean Paul Richter (1763—1825) German novelist. - I admire men of character and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates. And that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is. --H. Norman Schwarzkopf, III (1934— ) American general who commanded the U.S. forces in the Gulf War of 1991. _Journal-World_ [27 March 1991] Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. --H. Norman Schwarzkopf, III (1934— ) American general who commanded the U.S. forces in the Gulf War of 1991. - Fame vaporizes, money goes with the wind, and all that's left is character. --O.J. Simpson (1947— ) American football player, actor, and murder suspect. It seems that the analysis of character is the highest human entertainment. And literature does it, unlike gossip, without mentioning real names. --Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904—1991) Polish-American novelist who won the 1978 Nobel Prize for Literature. Interview with Richard Burgin in _The New York Times Magazine_ [26 November 1978]. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character. --Margaret Chase Smith (1897—1995) Maine senator. Speech at Westbrook Junior College, Portland, Maine [7 June 1953]. One can acquire everything in solitude, except character. --Stendhal [Marie-Henri Beyle] (1783—1842) French writer. _On Love_ [1822] - How easy it is to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success! --Madame Swetchine [Sophie Soymanof] (1782—1857) Russian-born French writer and salon hostess. We do not judge men by what they are in themselves, but by what they are relatively to us. --Madame Swetchine [Sophie Soymanof] (1782—1857) Russian-born French writer and salon hostess. - It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not. --Jonathan Swift (1667—1745) Anglo-Irish poet and satirist. The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back. --Abigail Van Buren (1918— ) American columnist. In her newspaper column _Dear Abby_ [16 May 1974]. Men's maxims reveal their character. --Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715—1747) French moralist and essayist. _Reflections and Maxims_ [1746], #107 If you really want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Every fool may become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man do his most common actions; these are indeed the things which will tell you the real character of a great man. --Vivekananda (1863—1902) Hindu spiritual leader and reformer. _Swami Vivekananda on Universal Ethics and Moral Conduct_ (Comp. by Swami Ranganathananda) [1965]. - I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable title, the character of an Honest Man. --George Washington (1732—1799) American general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution [1775—1783] and first president of the United States [1789—1797]. Letter to Alexander Hamilton [28 August 1788]. Though I prize, as I ought, the good opinion of my fellow citizens; yet, if I know myself, I would not seek or retain popularity at the expense of one social duty or moral value. --George Washington (1732—1799) American general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution [1775—1783] and first president of the United States [1789—1797]. - The condition of women affords in all countries the best criterion by which to judge the character of men. --Frances Wright [Fanny Wright] (1795—1852) Scottish-born American social reformer. _Views of Society and Manners in America_ [1821] - ----- magnanimous (adj.) Courageously noble in mind and heart. mettle (noun) ['me-dêl (British 'me-têl)] A person's character, spirit, courage, strength of principle-the stuff one is made of, usually in a positive sense. staid [STAYD], adjective: Steady or sedate in character; sober; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, or fanciful. tractable [TRAK-tuh-buhl], adjective: 1. Capable of being easily led, taught, or managed; docile. 2. Easily handled, managed, or worked; malleable. Ex.: "He thought that our temperaments are at least partly innate: 'Some men by unalterable frame of their constitution are stout, others timorous, some confident, others modest and tractable.'" --Jonathan Weiner, _Time, Love, Memory_ venal [VEE-nuhl], adjective: 1. Capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration; held for sale; salable; purchasable. 2. Capable of being corrupted. 3. Marked by or associated with bribery and corrupt dealings. end page | CALAMITIES - CALM | CALUMNY - CANADA | CANCER - CAN'T WIN | CAPITALISM | CAREFREE - CARPE DIEM | CARTER (JIMMY) - CATS & DOGS | CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - CENSORSHIP | CERTAINTY - CHANGE | CHANGING (ONE'S MIND) & CHANGING TIMES | CHARACTER | CHARACTER ASSASINATION - CHEERFULNESS | CHEER UP! - CHILDHOOD | CHILDREN | CHILDREN'S RHYME | CHILE & CHINA | CHOCOLATE - CHRISTIANITY | CHRISTMAS | CHURCH - CIGARS | CIRCUMSTANCES & CITIES | CIVILITY - CIVIL RIGHTS | CLARITY - CLICHES | CLOTHES - COFFEE | COLD - COLORS | COMEDY | COMFORT - COMMON SENSE | COMMUNICATION | COMMUNISM | COMPANIONSHIP - COMPASSION | COMPETITION - COMPLIMENTS | COMPOSERS - CONDUCTORS | CONFESSION - CONQUEST | CONSCIENCE - CONTENTED | CONTEXT - CONVERSATION | CONVICTION & COOKING | COOLIDGE - CORPORATIONS | CORRECTING - COURAGE | COURT - COWS | CREATIVITY - CRIME | CRIME & PUNISHMENT - CROOKS | CRITICISM & CRITICS | CROWD (THE) - CUBA | CULTURE - CYNICS | | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | | Return Home | The Credits | The Cast | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | The End | The Reviews | Photos |

Copyright © 2010, someworthwhilequotes.com. All rights reserved.