Samuel Beckett on character

The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.

In me there have always been two fools, among others, one asking nothing better than to stay where he is and the other imagining that life might be slightly less horrible a little further on.

Yes, in my life, since we must call it so, there were three things, the inability to speak, the inability to be silent, and solitude, that’s what I’ve had to make the best of.

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