Edmund Burke on character

All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

John Wooden1910–2010

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.

Tacitus55–120

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882The American Scholar (1837), par. 27