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Quotes about character

276 quotes from 175 people

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I’m beginning to know myself. I don’t exist.
I’m the gap between what I’d like to be and what others have made me.
Fernando Pessoa1888–1935Álvaro de Campos (heteronym), “Começo a conhecer-me. Não existo.”, in Fernando Pessoa & Co: Selected Poems, trans. Richard Zenith (Grove Press, 1998)
The strongest natures, when they are influenced, submit the most unreservedly: it is perhaps a sign of their strength.
Virginia Woolf1882–1941Books and Portraits (1977), “Thoreau”
What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.
John Ruskin1819–1900The Crown of Wild Olive (1866)
- Wisdom
Weak and kindly people are often very treacherous. And if they’ve got a grudge against life it saps the little moral strength that they may possess.
Agatha Christie1890–1976A Murder is Announced (1950)
The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.
Robert E. Lee1807–1870“Definition of a Gentleman”, a memorandum found in his papers after his death, as quoted in Lee the American (1912) by Gamaliel Bradford, p. 233
- Power
I have never felt that anything really mattered but the satisfaction of knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could.
Eleanor Roosevelt1884–1962My Day (1935–1962) (8 November 1944)
The petit-bourgeois is a man unable to imagine the Other. If he comes face to face with him, he blinds himself, ignores and denies him, or else transforms him into himself.
Roland Barthes1915–1980Mythologies (1957), p. 151
Character is the entity, the individuality of the person, shining from every window of the soul, either as a beam of purity, or as a clouded ray that betrays the impurity within.
William Jennings Bryan1860–1925Address at Illinois College (1881)
Whenever the last trumpet shall sound, I will present myself before the sovereign judge with this book in my hand, and loudly proclaim, thus have I acted; these were my thoughts; such was I.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1765-1770; published 1782), Book I
- Writing
There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity, that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. It is only spurious pride that is morbid and sensitive, and shrinks from every touch.
Washington Irving1783–1859The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820), “The Country Church”
- Pride
In private life there are few beings more obnoxious than the man who is always loudly boasting; and if the boaster is not prepared to back up his words his position becomes absolutely contemptible.
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919National Duties (Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick) (1901)
- Pride
To judge a man by his weakest link or deed is like judging the power of the ocean by one wave.
Elvis Presley1935–1977Handwritten note in his King James Bible
True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
Arthur Ashe1943–19931991 commencement address at Ohio Wesleyan University
- Courage
It’s our insides that make us who we are, that allow us to dream and wonder and feel for others. That’s what’s essential. That’s what will always make the biggest difference in our world.
Fred Rogers1928–2003Commencement Address at Middlebury College May, 2001
I look so totally artificial, but I’ve always been the simplest person in the world.
Dolly Parton1946–2026Interview by Jancee Dunn, “Dolly Parton: At 57, the Country Legend Still Brims With Vitality”, Rolling Stone (30 October 2003)