c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
Successful resistance to temptation may result in an increase of moral muscle, but that is because one is going to need it. A temptation resisted may become more, not less, fierce.
— N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
No one ever developed their character by arranging their experiences in such a way that only ‘good’ things are allowed to happen to them. Character is not purchased with a dance in the street. It is not cheap, and it’s hard to come by, owing partly to the fact that it is the heir of disappointment, frustration, betrayal and deceit. However, it is not the inheritance that matters so much as what you do with it. In the face of seemingly insurmountable problems what do you do, and why do you do it? The same holds for dramatic characters whose strength, courage, insight and wisdom have to be earned.
— Billy Marshall Stoneking
Virtue is what happens when habitual choices have been wise.
— N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
The future goal is the thing which produces character in the present.
— N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
The only fear that builds character, is the fear of God.
— Anthony Liccione
By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity
—  I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.
God has given to His works His own character of emeth; they are watertight, faithful, reliable, not at all vague or phantasmal.
— C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms
When both you and your spouse actively focus on developing godly character qualities, the foundation of your marriage will be twice as strong.
— Elizabeth George
You find out more of the type of person someone is when they are around someone in need
— Amanda Penland
Well, I myself, while sometimes unkempt by nights of drunkenness and debauchery, am quite convinced a man’s good character is marked by his impeccable attire.
— Hal Duncan, Scruffians! Stories of Better Sodomites
Home is our greatest place of trials.
— Muhammad bin Muhammad
With all due disrespect...
— Sir Topless Bottomley
Falsehood of a good man is better than truth of a bad one.
— Raheel Farooq
The fact that God can bring character development and personal growth out of any situation is conditional on people's willingness to submit to God's will. God is sovereign over every life, but those who yield their will to him will be shaped according to his purposes. When God directs a life for his purposes, all of life is a school. No experience, good or bad, is ever wasted (Rom. 8:28). God doesn't squander people's time. He doesn't ignore their pain. He brings not only healing but growth out of even the worst experiences. Every relationship can be God's instrument to mature a person's character.
— Henry T. Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda
Oh, I have always been proud, I always wanted all or nothing! You see it was just because I am not one who will accept half a happiness, but always wanted all
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gentle Spirit
Feeble is the character, that bows to inflated ego, arrogance, and whines of affluent, whilst raising itself mercilessly on the humble and underprivileged.
— Aniruddha Sastikar
Sincere and unspiteful laughter is mirth, but where is there any mirth in our time, and do people know how to be mirthful?... A man's mirth is a feature that gives away the whole man, from head to foot. Someone's character won't be cracked for a long time then the man bursts out laughing somehow quite sincerely, and his whole character suddenly opens up as if on the flat of your hand. Only a man of the loftiest and happiest development knows how to be mirthful infectiously, that is, irresistibly and goodheartedly. I'm not speaking of his mental development, but of his character, of the whole man. And so, if you want to discern a man and know his soul, you must look, not at how he keeps silent, or how he speaks, or how we weeps, or even how he is stirred by the noblest ideas, but you had better look at him when he laughs. If a man has a good laugh, it means he's a good man.
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Adolescent
The true measure of a person’s character is how one handles one’s failures, not successes.
— Bill Courtney, Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love
Repetition is the mother of character and skill.
— Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
She was herself in their company but a very specific version of herself.
— Sara Sheridan, London Calling
Little choices determine habit
— Habit carves and molds characterWhich makes the big decisions.
How did you act when all was not good? Did you rise to the challenge? Did you display grit, resilience, and integrity in your response? Character isn't about being perfect or always doing the right thing. Character is how you respond to your own failures. It’s when you screw up and life hits you in the mouth that you have an opportunity to reveal your inner strength.
— Bill Courtney, Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love
You can’t be a successful leader or mentor until you have served. You can’t serve until you have stepped out of your comfort zone. And you can’t step out of your comfort zone unless you have character and keep your word.
— Bill Courtney, Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love
You have to be somebody before you can share yourself.
— Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget
Standard is not the money you have nor the creed you belong to ,truly IT IS CHARACTER......
— Zainab Asif
He had just compunction enough for having done nothing for his sisters himself, to be exceedingly anxious that everybody else should do a great deal.
— Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
It took a certain kind of person to come from luxury and seek out danger.
— Sara Sheridan, London Calling
The larger an English industry was, the more likely it was to go bankrupt, because the English were not naturally corporate people; they disliked working for others and they seemed to resent taking orders. On the whole, directors were treated absurdly well, and workers badly, and most industries were weakened by class suspicion and false economies and cynicism. But the same qualities that made English people seem stubborn and secretive made them, face to face, reliable and true to their word. I thought: The English do small things well and big things badly.
— Paul Theroux, The Kingdom by the Sea
Pick a side or create new one ! Otherwise be a coward or traitor.
— Toba Beta, Betelgeuse Incident: Insiden Bait Al-Jauza
A lake cannot remain stormy for a long time
—  an ocean cannot remain calm for a long time
The severest test of character is not so much the ability to keep a secret as it is, when the secret is finally out, to refrain from disclosing that you knew it all along.
— Sydney J. Harris
You will know who truly loves you when you ask them to do an uncoventional favor.
— Michael Bassey Johnson
Once Addie let someone in, she was impossible to forget. There was something about her that crawled inside a person and built a nice comfy home there, her goodness expanding until it filled every limb.
— Kasie West, Split Second
Is it ok to sometimes be shy?Yes, of course. The point is,that being that way all the time and using it as an excuse to never be the opposite of shy,it's not good. It's not good for your life, your interactions,strenght of character and how diverse and interesting you can be. You are MORE than shy. Don't be labeled, be what you wanna be in any given moment. And DO what WORKS, not what you think you are.
— Matthew Hussey
The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.
— Zig Ziglar
You need tell me nothing
—  I already know your heart. Through your simplest choices you've given yourself away.
The telling of any character is what they do in a different situation.
— Sara Sheridan
Perfection should generally be avoided in a character. Real people, such as your readers, aren’t flawless and chances are they are not going to be able to fully identify with a character who is.
— Craig Hart, The Writer's Tune-up Manual: 35 Exercises That Will Scrape the Rust Off Your Writing
This is often the way we put together our lives, adding the striking qualities of others into our own character.
— Renée Fleming, The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer
It's not the tailor that makes the man.
— Romanian proverb
Never underestimate the capacity of people to choose the easy way.
— William James Moore, On Character and Mental Toughness
IT’S NOT THAT ANYONE CAN BE A HERO, BUT THAT A HERO CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE. BUT THE KEY IS THAT THEY HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING INSIDE THEM. A SPARK. A SENSE OF MORALITY. A YEARNING.
— Film Crit Hulk!, Screenwriting 101 by Film Crit Hulk!
It makes your buttocks ache walking on flat ground all the time.
— Linda Proud, A Tabernacle for the Sun
Please please read. Everything and anything. You may not remember all of it, you may not remember any of it But from the fairytailes...to the sweeping soaring classics I hope you will one day discover for yourself, all those words--those lives and characters, ideas and ideals--will, without you realising, shape you and sometimes even shelter you. And it shall be as if you have lived a thousand lives.
— Amy Mowafi, Fe-mail 2
When making the problem go away is more important than solving the problem leadership begins to fail. The easy way vs. The character way.
— William James Moore, On Character and Mental Toughness
In real life people do occasionally act out of character or do things we wouldn’t normally expect them to do. In fiction, there should be a good reason for a character to do something outside of the ordinary.
— Craig Hart, The Writer's Tune-up Manual: 35 Exercises That Will Scrape the Rust Off Your Writing
Alexia wondered what it said about her character that Ivy had genuinely believed she would intentionally go climbing about the side of a floating dirigible.
— Gail Carriger, Changeless
Victory, is like a boxer that hangs his gloves, after the consecutive losses; sometimes walking away is what builds character, than the actual fight. As humble fruit on a tree that falls to the ground and rots, never finding appreciation in the taste of mouths.
— Anthony Liccione
In recalling my childhood I like to picture myself as a beehive to which various simple obscure people brought the honey of their knowledge and thoughts on life, generously enriching my character with their own experience. Often this honey was dirty and bitter, but every scrap of knowledge was honey all the same.
— Maxim Gorky, My Childhood
Your attitude defines your personality. Your personality refines your attitude. Together they make up your character.
— Tanya Masse, Stairway to Awesomeness!: 30 Fundamental Steps to Living a Life of Awesomeness!
There is a perfect rout of characters in every man—and every man is like an actor’s trunk, full of strange creatures, new & old. But an actor and his trunk are two different things
— Wallace Stevens
Life is like a painting you reflect the image based on your feeling, emotion, character, attitude and how you made it.
— Daniel Habil
If one abandons their principles when tested by struggle, they were never true principles but advertisements for character they never possessed.
— Tiffany Madison
He is a man who kicks at cats, said Solembum, as if that summed up Tenga’s entire character.
— Christopher Paolini, Brisingr
There is no index of character as sure as the voice.
— Benjamin Disraeli
Character is less about what we do wrong And All about what we make right....
— Navonne Johns
Dickens enjoyed human beings as he found them, unregenerate, peculiar and incorrigibly themselves.
— John N. Gray
Bodily vigor is good, and vigor of intellect is even better, but far above both is character. It is true, of course, that a genius may, on certain lines, do more than a brave and manly fellow who is not a genius; and so, in sports, vast physical strength may overcome weakness, even though the puny body may have in it the heart of a lion. But, in the long run, in the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against that assemblage of virtues, active and passive, of moral qualities, which we group together under the name of character; and if between any two contestants, even in college sport or in college work, the difference in character on the right side is as great as the difference of intellect or strength the other way, it is the character side that will win.
— Theodore Roosevelt
Do not judge a man by where he stands, but how he reached there.
— Raheel Farooq
A man will will never know a woman until he knows her work.
— Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley
The measure of your character and mental toughness is the space between what you are doing and what you could be doing
— William James Moore, On Character and Mental Toughness
You express the truth of your character, your dedication to your goals, and your commitment to your relationships with the choice of your actions.
— Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
Maximus was my model for self-control, fixity of purpose, and cheerfulness under ill-health or other misfortunes. His character was an admirable combination of dignity and charm, and all the duties of his station were performed quietly and without fuss. He gave everyone the conviction that he spoke as he believed, and acted as he judged right. Bewilderment or timidity were unknown to him; he was never hasty, never dilatory; nothing found him at a loss. He indulged neither in despondency nor forced gaiety, nor had anger or jealousy any power over him. Kindliness, sympathy, and sincerity all contributed to give the impression of a rectitude that was innate rather than inculcated. Nobody was ever made by him to feel inferior, yet none could have presumed to challenge his pre-eminence. He was also the possessor of an agreeable sense of humour.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
You see, Marcus, some things have value yet have no price, and a wise man learns them and their worth. So do not let the standard of the marketplace be your guide. A man goes there for flour and greens, but not for virtue.
— Paul Waters, Of Merchants & Heroes
By mastering character and plot, you give your book a fighting chance and withoutcharacter and plot, no book can survive.
— Craig Hart, The Writer's Tune-up Manual: 35 Exercises That Will Scrape the Rust Off Your Writing
Your NAME and your REPUTATION is ALL that you have, so GUARD them. They are worth more than money or gold.
— L. Michelle
Characters are the lifeblood of anygood book.
— Craig Hart, The Writer's Tune-up Manual: 35 Exercises That Will Scrape the Rust Off Your Writing
You can't guide someone into adulthood. The experiences are unique to each person. Deanna Troi
— Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Guide Team, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION EPISODE GUIDE: Details All 178 Episodes with Plot Summaries. Searchable. Companion to DVDs, Blu Ray and Box Set
I am perhaps more proud of having helped to redeem the character of the cave-man than of any other single achievement of mine in the field of anthropology.
— Henry Fairfield Osborn
Put character and mental toughness before execution and you will get consistent execution.
— William James Moore
To keep any great nation up to a high standard of civilization there must be enough superior characters to hold the balance of power, but the very moment the balance of power gets into the hands of second-rate men and women, a decline of that nation is inevitable.
— Christian D. Larson
Never permit circumstances to change your plans, but give so much character to your plans that they will change circumstances. Give so much character to the current of your work that all things will be drawn into that current, and that which at ﬁrst was but a tiny rivulet, will thus be swelled into a mighty, majestic stream.
— Christian D. Larson
The crisis of community has its source in the corruption of character.
— Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
Like your marriage, everything in the universe is trying to find its orbit. In the midst of this constant readjustment, both partners should be able to go to bed knowing that neither one is going to abandon a wounded, or struggling marriage. There is a comforting reassurance being with someone who keeps their promise.pg iv
— Michael Ben Zehabe, Song of Songs The Book for Daughters
If we are related, we shall meet. It was a tradition of the ancient world, that no metamorphosis could hide a god from a god; and there is a Greek verse which runs, "The Gods are to each other not unknown."Friends also follow the laws of divine necessity; they gravitate to each other, and cannot otherwise.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson's Essays
Men, I still think, ought to be weighed, not counted. Their worth ought to be the final estimate of their value.
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge
What we do when defeat stares us in the face is the real touchstone of character. But the very fact that success has time and again proved the means of awakening people to the knowledge of greater ability than they ever before dreamed they possessed, ought to hearten and encourage us to keep on no matter how often we fail. If we brace ourselves and continue to push forward we will ultimately win out. (From Everybody ahead, or getting the most out of life)
— Orison Swett Marden
The rain began to fall harder, and it distracted him, but he tried to pull himself back because he felt on the verge of understanding something large and important. It seemed to him that this moment—the light and wind, the sweep of fields, the falling rain, the lowing cows, Leah’s form as it twisted to one side and then another—captured a sort of life that he longed for, a life of order and harsh beauty, and although this was his farm and his vision, it did not seem to be his life. It seemed instead to be the thing for which he must daily give up his life, an act of submission to something he could not name and only rarely, in moments such as these, have a sense of. Life during these moments seemed neither lost nor ruined but a power to be shared, as the grass shares its power with the living things that devour it.
— Robert Boswell, Mystery Ride
Talking to Robespierre, one tried to make the right noises; but what is right, these days? Address yourself to the militant, and you find a pacifist giving you a reproachful look. Address yourself to the idealist, and you’ll find that you’ve fallen into the company of a cheerful, breezy professional politician. Address yourself to means, and you’ll be told to think of ends: to ends, and you’ll be told to think of means. Make an assumption, and you will find it overturned; offer yesterday’s conviction, and today you’ll find it shredded. What did Mirabeau complain of? He believes everything he says. Presumably there was some layer of Robespierre, some deep stratum, where all the contradictions were resolved.
— Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety
Reason is an outcome of frailty and resentment. When Will fails to cope with the labour of life, or the life of labour, its fragile remnants are set to construct a slighter world of justifications.
— Raheel Farooq
Knowledge cannot be maintained without character.
— Raheel Farooq
If you want to become successful, then first become the person who can be successful.
— SuccessCoach Nilesh, Go for Success: Be a Champion by 6 Effective Steps
I used to take my morning tea at her kiosk and I took an interest in what she was doing. I later learnt she was taking care of her grandchildren. Sadly, she was taken ill and had to close her nylon-walled smoky shack. But all the wit and cunning of the character came from her.
— Stanley Gazemba
A man of fifty is responsible for his face.
— Edwin McMasters Stanton
It’s not our mistakes that define us. It’s the lessons we learn that show our true character.
— Cassia Leo, Bring Me Home
There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they find to laugh at.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Elective Affinities
There are no verdicts to childhood, only consequences, and the bright freight of memory.
— Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides
His characters are ravaged, beaten. They walk through infernos and emerge charred doves.
— Marisha Pessl, Night Film
When they know what makes you cry, they know what hurts you most. Don't give your enemies that." Solin, character in The Guardian by Sherrilyn Kenyon
— Sherrilyn Kenyon, The Guardian
It's nice to be liked, but it's better to be respected.
— Habeeb Akande
Life goes headlong. We chase some flying scheme, or we are hunted by some fear or command behind us. But if suddenly we encounter a friend, we pause; our heat and hurry look foolish enough; now pause, now possession, is required, and the power to swell the moment from the resources of the heart. The moment is all, in all noble relations.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson
She's the main character in her story, just like I'm the main character in mine.
— Marisa de los Santos, Love Walked In
Life is a character-building opportunity that we all volunteered for.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
Your talent and giftedness as a leader have the potential to take you farther than your character can sustain you. That ought to scare you.
— Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future
She had always wanted to do every thing, and had made more progress in both drawing and music than many might have done with so little labour as she ever would submit to... She was not much deceived as to her own skill either as an artist or a musician, but she was not unwilling to have others deceived, or sorry to know her reputation for accomplishment often higher than it deserved.
— Jane Austen, Emma
I was tired of this silly joking about my 'speaking countenance'. I could keep a secret as well as anyone. Poirot had always persisted in the humiliating belief that I am a transparent character and that anyone can read what is passing in my mind.
— Agatha Christie, Curtain
There are many eyes that can detect and honor the prudent and household virtues; there are many that can discern Genius on his starry track, though the mob is incapable; but when that love which is all-suffering, all-abstaining, all-aspiring, which has vowed to itself, that it will be a wretch and also a fool in this world, sooner than soil its white hands by any compliances, comes into our streets and houses, --only the pure and aspiring can know its face, and the only compliment they can pay it, is to own it.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson
To possess a rich life of wholeness that brings happiness into the soul
—  is to show loving and caring characteristic traits toward others.
The road is long if one proceeds by way of precepts but short and effectual if by way of personal example.
— Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
If you don't demonstrate leadership character, your skills and your results will be discounted, if not dismissed.
— Mark      Miller, The Heart of Leadership: Becoming a Leader People Want to Follow
The vice president (Nixon) seems like a man who is acting like a nice man rather than being one.
— Ann Whitman
I was beginning to think that Simon just had a bad case of OCD, ADD, and PMS. With a little BS and OMG mixed in.
— Dannika Dark, Gravity
Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
Every day people judge all other people. The question is whether they judge wisely.
— Orson Scott Card, Xenocide
He must shape simultaneously (in an expanding creative moment) his characters, plot, and setting, each inextricably connected to the others; he must make his whole world in a single, coherent gesture, as a potter makes a pot...
— John Gardner, The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers
The unnamed should not be mistaken for the nonexistent.
— Jean de La Bruyère
The very essence of politeness is to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.
— Jean de La Bruyère
As our fathers said, you can tell a ripe corn by its look.
— Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Whatever makes an impression on the heart seems lovely in the eye.
— Saadi
He lost the great big outward thing, the good- looking package, and the real parts endured. They shine through like crazy, the brillian mind and humor, the depth of generosity, the intense blue yes, those beautiful hands.
— Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
There are no perfectly honorable men
—  but every true man has one main point of honor and a few minor ones.
Judge a person not by how he treats you, but how he treats others. The former reflects what he wants you to think of him, the latter truly reflects who he is.
— Betty Jamie Chung
You know, I'm like Avis rent-a-car: Because I'm insignificant, I try harder.
— Mike Carey
Ian was a good man—honest, trustworthy, loyal, and of honorable character. His desire to keep his promise to Angelle and to be a respectable servant of Harrowbeth would always take president over any personal feelings, no matter how intense or gratifying they might be. He would never betray Harrowbeth. He would never cheat Derian or Angelle. He would never deceive his queen, even if in so doing he would find a love and happiness they both longed to share. His commitment to what he saw as right meant more.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Eena, The Curse of Wanyaka Cave
There is no pressure to perform, to succeed, because we already have. If your family and community accepts you, who else must you impress? Just yourself and God, ja?
— Sarah Price, Fields of Corn
A chief cause of worry and unhappiness in life is trading what we want most for what we want at the moment.
— Maralee McKee, Manners That Matter for Moms
It is nice to be important but it is more important to be nice
— Fela Durotoye
Strength of character will carry you further than physical strength alone.
— GamiRae
The dysfunction was not the character of one person, it was the split of family by divorce, with the ripples felt for eternity by bloodline.
— Amber Garibay
Great men are strong men with great leadership qualities. They inspire others to be loving and caring like themselves. By this their character is made stronger.
— Ellen J. Barrier
Its not the content nor context,rather, its the character that masses heed to.
— Arap yegon chitabkoret
Some of us are always in the borderlands no matter where we might be on the map.
— James Carlos Blake, Borderlands
To obtain greatness and strength, a man must have a good character. He is honorable and respected by others. We define him as intelligent, and as one who God has blessed with wisdom
— Ellen J. Barrier
Individual effort is good but collective effort is better. We need a NETWORK of nation builders
— Fela Durotoye
For a Hero cannot triumph all the time. Sometimes he will be defeated, and how he faces that defeat is a test of his character.
— Cressida Cowell, How to Steal a Dragon's Sword
The Prophet's character was termed tremendous because his concern was for God alone.
— Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi
You’re noble enough, Baudelaires. That’s all we can ask for in this world.
— Lemony Snicket, The Penultimate Peril
You express the truth of your character with the choice of your actions.
— Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
What do you believe reveals more about a man’s character, his arrogance or his attempt to disguise it?
— Aaron B. Powell, Quixotic
If you give people a chance, they shine.
— Billy Connolly, Billy Connolly's Route 66
When someone says "I Love You," it is imperative that you know if you are loved for "WHAT you are" or "WHO you are." When the academic qualifications, professionals, positions, possessions, good look, fat bank accounts and all that has been acquired over the years are taken away, all that is left is "Who you are" - Your Personality (character, values, perceptions.)"We are never truly loved, until we are loved for WHO and not WHAT we are
— Olaotan Fawehinmi
There was nothing fake or added about him. He was all himself.
— Colin Cotterill, The Coroner's Lunch
To test a man, determine how much it takes to make him lie.
— C.J. Langenhoven
Judge character by behavior.
— Lizelle DuPlessis, Ethereal Revelations Volume I
Confession: I don't want everybody to be beautiful, not in that unlined, creaseless, symmetrical way. Android beauty, like it comes out of a test tube. Beauty without blemish or mark. Not only do I not identify with such people, I don't believe in them either. I don't even find them attractive. This is what makes watching television so hard: they don't cast actors anymore, only models. When they make a movie of my life, they'd better cast a character actor in the lead. Don't try to tell me I'm not a character.
— Lisa Samson, The Sky Beneath My Feet
Cooperation is a higher moral principle than competition.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
Control thought-forms are the basis of our deepest moral crisis.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
If we think of the novel and the epic...The difference lies in the fact that the important thing about the epic is a hero--a man who is a pattern for all men. While, as Mencken pointed out, the essence of most novels lies in the breaking down of a man, in the degeneration of character.
— Jorge Luis Borges, This Craft of Verse
A well-developed and versed character will write the story for you.
— A.R. Voss
Character primarily is honesty with God, ones-self, and others."~R. Alan Woods [2013]
— R. Alan Woods, The Journey Is the Destination: A Book of Quotes With Commentaries
If a railroad is bent, the train shall turn over; if a man’s character is bent, he shall turn over just like that train.
— Mehmet Murat ildan
The character of Jesus can only be ultimately known experientially through the indwelling of His Spirit in union with us."~"The character of Jesus can only be ultimately known experientially through the indwelling of His Spirit in union with us."~R. Alan Woods [2013]
— R. Alan Woods, The Journey Is the Destination: A Book of Quotes With Commentaries
You can speak with spiritual eloquence, pray in public, and maintain a holy appearance... but it is your behavior that will reveal your true character.
— Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
But if Crake wanted her to stay longer on any given night, do it again maybe, she'd make some excuse—jet lag, a headache, something plausible. Her inventions were seamless, she was the best poker-faced liar in the world, so there would be a kiss goodbye for stupid Crake, a smile, a wave, a closed door, and the next minute there she would be, with Jimmy.
— Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake
A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Every man of character will have that character questioned. Every man of honor and courage will be faced with unjust criticism, but never forget that unjust criticism has no impact whatsoever upon the truth. And the only sure way to avoid criticism is to do nothing and be nothing.
— Andy Andrews, The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success
One's character is set at an early age, son. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life." He was quiet for a minute then dropped the curtain and said, "I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.
— Wendelin Van Draanen
Everyone makes mistakes, but only a person with integrity owns up to them.
— Nicole Guillaume
Speak less and listen more.
— Zai
Just think how happy you'd be if you lost everything you have right now & then got it back.
— Ronald Reagan
We are given talent but we choose to have character.
— Wayde Goodall, Why Great Men Fall: 15 Winning Strategies to Rise Above It All
...I didn't want you flawless - I have a bare wall at home that's flawless - I wanted your character trapped in the amber of your skin...
— John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
First character, then ability.
— Shinichi Suzuki, Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education
What if God doesn’t keep his promises?
— K. Howard Joslin, Honest Wrestling
Understanding character is a vital part of the process of finding a relationship partner and developing a strong and vibrant relationship together.
— Susanne M. Alexander, Creating Excellent Relationships: The Power of Character Choices
One uncontrolled character flaw can ruin your greatest accomplishment.
— Wayde Goodall, Why Great Men Fall: 15 Winning Strategies to Rise Above It All
Never let anyone get the worst of you. For you too will become just like them
— Bradley Shutter
Character is contagious.
— Wayde Goodall, Why Great Men Fall: 15 Winning Strategies to Rise Above It All
A tough hide with a tender heart is a goal that all leaders must have.
— Wayde Goodall, Why Great Men Fall: 15 Winning Strategies to Rise Above It All
The one surefire way to get me not to hire you is to send me your resume, especially if you've already got a good job. I won't be interested, because in a couple years, you'll be doing the same thing to me that you're doing to your current boss: looking for a better deal.
— Bo Schembechler
We largely become what we have observed and respected.
— Wayde Goodall, Why Great Men Fall: 15 Winning Strategies to Rise Above It All
...if you're an actor, and you've thought your way into the part, then you're character portrayal will have authority...
— John Geddes, A Familiar Rain
Affronts to her reputation pierced her to the heart, though I couldn’t understand why, since she had very little character left to defend.
— Melika Dannese Lux, Corcitura
There is no greater evil than men's failure to consult and to consider.
— Sophocles, Antigone
Encourage literally came from "in courage." The courage is put "into" you from outside. Our character and abilities grow through internalizing from others what we do not possess in ourselves.
— Henry Cloud
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
— Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God
I am someone who has a cold heart. If I am beside a great grief I throw barriers up so the loss cannot go too deep or too far. There is a wall instantly in place, and it will not fall.
— Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table
Even pretty faces are mutilated by ugly character
— أحمد عمارة
No one does anything uncharacteristic of who they are.
— Richard Bach
I study men like I study books: I skim their midsections.
— Bauvard, Some Inspiration for the Overenthusiastic
A perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.
— Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The fate of the country... does not depend on what kind of paper you drop into the ballot-box once a year, but on what kind of man you drop from your chamber into the street every morning.
— Henry David Thoreau, Slavery in Massachusetts
A hero without faults is like an omelet without little bits of eggshell in it.
— Colin Cotterill, Love Songs from a Shallow Grave
Hortense was a wife; Valerie a mistress.Many men desire to have these two editions of the same work, although it is proof of deep inferiority in a man if he cannot make his wife his mistress. Seeking variety is a sign of impotence.
— Honoré de Balzac, Cousin Bette
Strength of character comes from being hit by stray verbal stones, while protecting discarded ciphers in the snow.
— Shannon L. Alder
From out of your heart, you speak."-Emma, When Crickets Cry
— Charles Martin, When Crickets Cry
He was a character.A character who should still be here. Damn it all to hell.He should still be here.
— Lisa Schroeder, Chasing Brooklyn
The only thing you can take with you when you die is what you are. Character counts more than possessions.
— Orrin Woodward, LIFE
A character for steadiness once gone is not easily recovered
— Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays
In these times of Darkness, I keep dreaming of a better tomorrow, and praying my soul won't be corrupted." These are Gudrun's words and thoughts. She is living in a troubled world, where only the strong can be free.She is a Fantasy character you find on The Art of Isis Sousa & Guests!
— Isis Sousa, Art of Isis Sousa & Guests: Fantasy Digital Painting Techniques & Video Lectures
A man carries within him the germ of his most exceptional action; and if we wise people make eminent fools of ourselves on any particular occasion, we must endure the legitimate conclusion that we carry a few grains of folly to our ounce of wisdom.
— George Eliot, Adam Bede
I suppose that one’s years spent living do not reflect a measure of our souls or strength of character.
— Peter Koevari, Prophecies Awakening
What's in a name?  The accumulation of reputations from all who've owned it before you.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
Her flesh was powdery and voluptuously weary, as if tenderized by all the different beds and arms in which she had lain. Her face was as soft as the pulpy flash of an overripe banana, her breasts like two tiny bunches of grapes. She exuded a certain seedy charm, a poetry of premature corruption and decay. She breathed the air as if it burned her palate, baking her small, hot, whorish mouth. It was as if she were sucking a sweet or slurping champagne.
— Dezső Kosztolányi, Skylark
I'm starting to feel like a character from one of these books
— Christina Tetreault, The Teacher's Billionaire
Character is what we do when no one else is watching"~R. Alan Woods [2012]
— R. Alan Woods, The Journey Is The Destination: A Photo Journal
(Kindness) is much more a sign of character than mere niceness. Kindness connects to who you are, while niceness connects to how you want to be seen."-David Levithan (Every Day)
— David Levithan
In my opinion, too much attention to weather makes for instability of character.
— Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse
Jealousy is a strange transformer of characters.
— Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure Of The Noble Bachelor
...I've been ripped off, lied to, slandered, gossiped about slapped, falsely accused, and had my truths not believed. I've had my heart broken, had my pride stomped on, witnessed unforgivable acts, and heard words that hurt so much I withed that they would not replay in my head, but they did. In all these moments--some tear-soaked, some life-defining, but all character-building moments--I have felt vulnerable. And I believe these feelings of vulnerability--when a person feels scared and alone and overwhelmed and pissed off, wen the sting of unfairness bites deep--while miserable to live through, are the basis for writing compelling fiction.
— Jessica Page Morrell
Emma Willard told the legislature that the education of women "has been too exclusively directed to fit them for displaying to advantage the charms of youth and beauty" The problem, she said, was that "the taste of men, whatever it might happen to be, has made into a standard for the formation of the female character." Reason and religion teach us, she said, that "we too are primary existences...not the satellites of men.
— Howard Zinn
There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Kind old ladies assure us that cats are often the best judges of character. A cat will always go to a good man, they say[.]
— Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room
Would you have references?""I'm awfully sorry but I haven't. I just arrived in New York, and don't know a soul. Except you." I smiled but she didn't smile back. She stood hesitating, and I said, "It's true that I'm an escaped convict, an active counterfeiter, and occasional murderer. And I howl during the full of the moon. But I'm neat.
— Jack Finney, Time and Again
Realize that by hurting your own characters, you are not a sadist. You are not deliberately hurting your loved ones merely to watch them suffer. You’re giving a gift. You’re helping them grow and develop. Your characters take on deeper meaning to become more alive on your pages. They’ll become real.
— James Chartrand
No man engaged in a work he does not like can preserve many saving illusionsabout himself. The distaste, the absence of glamour, extend from the occupation to the personality. It is only when ourappointed activities seem by a lucky accident to obey the particular earnestness of our temperament that we can taste the comfort of complete self-deception.
— Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent
A person’s authentic nature is a series of shifting, variegated planes that establish themselves as he relates to different people; it is created by and appears within the framework of his interpersonal relationships.
— Philip K. Dick, The Selected Letters, 1972-1973
Absolute power doesn't corrupt, but rather, reveals character.
— Orrin Woodward
People will follow you when you build the character to follow through.
— Orrin Woodward
I've always regarded it as a test of character to dislike the Kennedys. I don't really respect anyone who falls for Camelot.
— Christopher Hitchens
It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it's close.
— Jesse Owens
Leaders do what ought to be done whether their deeds are known by thousands or known by no one.
— Orrin Woodward
Character is beyond obligation. You could kick your shoes off at the door, flick your cigarete butts onto the sidewalk or talk only in slang, those things are forgivable if you have character
— Novala Takemoto, Missin' (Novel)
What people say about you, good or bad, is not nearly as important as what you are.
— Orrin Woodward
He was all of those things, of course, but none of those things.
— Marie Tillman, The Letter: My Journey Through Love, Loss, and Life
People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.
— Alan Moore, V for Vendetta
Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.
— Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle
A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
— Gerald R. Ford
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.
— Margaret Thatcher
If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.
— Mark Twain
I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.
— Benjamin Franklin
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Winston Smith: Does Big Brother exist?O'Brien: Of course he exists.Winston Smith: Does he exist like you or me?O'Brien: You do not exist.
— George Orwell, 1984
You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we've got Fudge, pretending everything's lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we've got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you've got 'The Chosen One' working for you!
— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
— Ayn Rand
The government is merely a servant―merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.
— Mark Twain
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable...
— H.L. Mencken, Prejudices: Third Series
It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.
— Ansel Adams
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."(Speech in the House of Commons, 11 November 1947)
— Winston S. Churchill, Churchill Speaks: Collected Speeches in Peace and War, 1897-1963
If you can't say "Fuck" you can't say, "Fuck the government.
— Lenny Bruce
To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be place under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality."General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century, translated by John Beverly Robinson (London: Freedom Press, 1923), pp. 293-294.
— Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
— John  Adams, Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife
I was ecstatic when they re-named "French fries" as "freedom fries." Grown men and women in positions of power in the U.S. government showing themselves as idiots.
— Johnny Depp
If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.
— Samuel Adams
It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.
— Mark Twain
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
— United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.
— Thomas Jefferson, Letters of Thomas Jefferson
I was once asked if I had any ideas for a really scary reality TV show. I have one reality show that would really make your hair stand on end: "C-Students from Yale."George W. Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka Christians, and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or PPs, the medical term for smart, personable people who have no consciences.To say somebody is a PP is to make a perfectly respectable diagnosis, like saying he or she has appendicitis or athlete's foot . . .PPs are presentable, they know full well the suffering their actions may cause others, but they do not care. They cannot care because they are nuts. They have a screw loose! . . .So many of these heartless PPs now hold big jobs in our federal government, as though they were leaders instead of sick. They have taken charge of communications and the schools, so we might as well be Poland under occup
— Kurt Vonnegut Jr., A Man Without a Country
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.
— Edward R. Murrow