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Quotes about character

276 quotes from 175 people

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So material a difference does it make, not what ills are suffered, but what kind of man suffers them. For, stirred up with the same movement, mud exhales a horrible stench, and ointment emits a fragrant odor.
Augustine of Hippo354–430The City of God (early 400s)
A wolf was no less a wolf because a whim of chance caused him to run with the watch-dogs.
Robert E. Howard1906–1936“Beyond the Black River” (1935)
Where ambition can be so happy as to cover its enterprizes, even to the person himself, under the appearance of principle, it is the most incurable and inflexible of all human passions.
David Hume1711–1776The History of England (1754-62)
- Motivation & Goals
You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.
Henrik Ibsen1828–1906An Enemy of the People (1882), Act V
- Courage
Above all things, one should maintain his self-respect, and there is but one way to do that, and that is to live in accordance with your highest ideal.
Robert G. Ingersoll1833–1899The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
- Advice
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it.
Washington Irving1783–1859The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820), “Philip of Pokanoket”
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
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
Jesus7 BC–AD 30The Sermon on the Mount
- Religion
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Jesus7 BC–AD 30The Sermon on the Mount
To the extent that we try to be like others, we convert ourselves into zombies.
Alejandro Jodorowskyborn 1929Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy (2010)
Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759), Ch. XLI
- Knowledge
He was so generally civil that nobody thanked him for it.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784Life of Johnson (Boswell) (1777)
Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785) (20 September 1773)
Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.
Samuel Johnson1709–1784The Rambler (1750–1752), No. 135 (2 July 1751)
He lived at a little distance from his body, regarding his own acts with doubtful side-glances.
James Joyce1882–1941Dubliners (1914), A Painful CaseIn context