Mary Wollstonecraft on character

Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman’s sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.

It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.

Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.

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