Great Character Quotes

• Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.

  Dale Carnegie

  Gratitude, Character, Self

  Dale Carnegie (2016). “How to win friends & influence people”, p.21, Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd

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• The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.

  Abigail Van Buren

  Life, Friendship, Family

  66 Copy quote

• You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.

  James Anthony Froude

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  James Anthony Froude (1849). “The nemesis of faith”, p.4

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• No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Change, Character, Angel

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)”, p.1454, Delphi Classics

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• Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Strength, Success

  "The American Scholar". Ralph Waldo Emerson's Oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, emersoncentral.com. August 31, 1837.

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• Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Attitude, Character

  Albert Einstein's speech made in honor of Thomas Mann, when Mann was given the Einstein Prize given by the Jewish Forum (January 1939), as quoted in Abraham Pais "Einstein Lived Here" (p. 214), 1994.

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• You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Loyalty, Respect, Honesty

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  The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.

  Joan Didion

  Life, Respect, Self Esteem

  FaceBook post by Joan Didion from Sep 15, 2011

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• Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Character, Angel

  "Why there's no such thing as a gifted child" by Wendy Berliner, www.theguardian.com. July 25, 2017.

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• Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.

  Elbert Hubbard

  Integrity, Character, Men

  Elbert Hubbard (1902). “Contemplations: Being Several Short Essays Helpful Sermonettes, Epigrams and Orphic Sayings”

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• Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.

  Henry Clay

  Business, Character, Men

  Henry Clay (1981). “The Papers of Henry Clay: Secretary of State 1827”, p.769, University Press of Kentucky

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• Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.

  Will Rogers

  Inspirational, Funny, Family

  Norman Vincent Peale, Marjorie Holmes, Arthur Gordon, Will Rogers (1995). “To father, with love: wisdom from Guideposts”, Dimensions for Living

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• People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life.

  Leonardo da Vinci

  Being Strong, Character, People

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• Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.

  John Wooden

  Basketball, Motivational Sports, Character

  Andrew Hill, John Wooden (2002). “Be Quick - But Don't Hurry: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime”, p.114, Simon and Schuster

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• We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  Inspirational, Education, Spiritual

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1849). “Kavanagh: A Tale”, p.3

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  The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

  Samuel Johnson

  Inspirational, Success, Respect

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• The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.

  Leon Trotsky

  Being Strong, Stay Strong, Fall

  Leon Trotsky, George Breitman, George Saunders (1977). “Portraits, political & personal”

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  Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

  John Adams

  Leadership, Character, Persistence

  "I’ll Vote for That" by Katharine Rose, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 22, 2015.

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• This above all; to thine own self be true.

  William Shakespeare

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Graduation

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 1, sc. 3, l. 58

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• To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

  William Shakespeare

  Inspirational, Graduation, Honesty

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 1, sc. 3, l. 58

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• People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Positive, Attitude, I Hate You

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• 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

  Inspirational, Beauty, Beautiful

  78 Copy quote

• Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Leadership, War, Character

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• Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.

  Bear Bryant

  Inspirational, Motivational, Success

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• Sports do not build character. They reveal it.

  Heywood Broun

  Inspirational, Sports, Baseball

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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