Character Quotes One can acquire everything in solitude - except character.     Marie Henri Beyle I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself.     Lois McMaster Bujold Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence.     Elihu Burritt Strong feelings do not necessarily make a strong character. The strength of a man is to be measured by the power of the feelings he subdues not by the power of those which subdue him.     William Carleton Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.     Cicero Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.     Confucius Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self respect springs.     Joan Didion The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character.     Isabelle Eberhardt Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.     Ralph Waldo Emerson People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.     Ralph Waldo Emerson I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments.     Nathaniel Emmons Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.     Sam Ewing You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.     James A. Froude A man's character is his fate.     Heraclitus People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.     Hermann Hesse The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.     Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.     Japanese Proverb 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.     Helen Keller To succeed is nothing, it's an accident. but to feel no doubts about oneself is something very different: it is character.     Marie Leneru Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.     Elmer G. Letterman Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.     Oscar Levant A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.     Georg Christoph Lichtenberg 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 Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.     Abraham Lincoln Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.     W. Somerset Maugham The character of a man is known from his conversations.     Menander You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.     Ronald Reagan People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.     Eleanor Roosevelt Our character...is an omen of our destiny, and the more integrity we have and keep, the simpler and nobler that destiny is likely to be.     George Santayana You can tell the character of every man when you see how he receives praise.     Seneca Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.     Solon In attempts to improve your character, know what is in your power and what is beyond it.     Francis Thompson Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.     Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Previous Subject - Change | Next Subject - Charity