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Quotes about character

276 quotes from 175 people

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Or, to state his character as it stood in the scale of public opinion, when his friends and critics were in tantrums, he was considered rather a bad man; when they were pleased, he was rather a good man; when they were neither, he was a man whose moral colour was a kind of pepper-and-salt mixture.
Thomas Hardy1840–1928Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), Chapter IIn context
- Morality
The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.
Thomas Hardy1840–1928Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), Phase the Sixth: The Convert, Chapter XLIXIn context
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.
SHSydney J. Harris1917–1986On the Contrary (1964), Ch. 7
People who think they’re generous to a fault usually think that’s their only fault.
SHSydney J. Harris1917–1986On the Contrary (1964), Ch. 7
Superior people are only those who let it be discovered by others; the need to make it evident forfeits the very virtue they aspire to.
SHSydney J. Harris1917–1986Pieces of Eight (1982)
- Pride
The real test of a man is not how well he plays the role he has invented for himself, but how well he plays the role that destiny assigned to him.
Václav Havel1936–2011Disturbing the Peace (1986), Ch. 2: Writing for the Stage, p. 72
It contributes greatly towards a man’s moral and intellectual health to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate.
Nathaniel Hawthorne1804–1864The Scarlet Letter (1850), The Custom-HouseIn context
- Friendship
A gentleman is one who understands and shows every mark of deference to the claims of self-love in others, and exacts it in return from them.
William Hazlitt1778–1830The Plain Speaker (1826)
- Pride
One shining quality lends a lustre to another, or hides some glaring defect.
William Hazlitt1778–1830Characteristics, in the manner of Rochefoucauld’s Maxims (1823), No. 162
Man is a make-believe animal — he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.
William Hazlitt1778–1830Notes of a Journey through France and Italy (1824), ch. XVI
- Acting
Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses.
William Hazlitt1778–1830Characteristics, in the manner of Rochefoucauld’s Maxims (1823), No. 101
The way to procure insults is to submit to them. A man meets with no more respect than he exacts.
William Hazlitt1778–1830Characteristics, in the manner of Rochefoucauld’s Maxims (1823), No. 402
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley1849–1903Invictus (1875)In context
- Motivation & Goals
It ain’t the roads we take; it’s what’s inside of us that makes us turn out the way we do.
O. Henry1862–1910Whirligigs (1910)
I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray who finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him.
Hermann Hesse1877–1962Steppenwolf (1927), Harry Haller’s RecordsIn context