Notable Quotes on Character

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The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

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Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When what we want to do and what we ought to do are two different things, character is built in the choice we make.
- Bill Bennett

I will prepare and someday my chance will come.
- Abraham Lincoln

Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.
- J. C. Watts

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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 R. Wooden

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
- Abraham Lincoln

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
- George Washington

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
- Ghandi

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have—life itself.
- Walter Anderson

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
- John Quincy Adams

 Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.
 - Albert Einstein

Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
                                                                        - Thomas Edison

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false.  The hundredth time I am right.
- Albert Einstein

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
- Thomas Edison

 If you don't stick to your values when they are being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.
 - Jon Stewart

By hero, we tend to mean a heightened man who, more than other men, possesses qualities of courage, loyalty, resourcefulness, charisma, above all, selflessness. He is an example of right behavior; the sort of man who risks his life to protect his society's values, sacrificing his personal needs for those of the community.
- Paul Zweig

The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.
- Rachel Naomi Remen

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
 - Sir Winston Churchill

When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.
- Roy Disney

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.
- Jim Rohn

The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
 - Anne Frank

Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.
- Les Brown

True beauty is not related to what color your hair is or what color your eyes are. True beauty is about who you are as a human being, your principles, your moral compass.
- Ellen DeGeneres

Service is a smile. It is an acknowledging wave, a reaching handshake, a friendly wink, and a warm hug. It's these simple acts that matter most, because the greatest service to a human soul has always been the kindness of recognition.
- Richelle E. Goodrich

If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you'll end up not doing anything for anybody.
- Malcom Bane

The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
- Benjamin Disraeli

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

Neither fire, nor moisture, nor wind can destroy the blessing of a good deed, and it will reform the world.
- Buddha

It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.
- Ann Landers

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
 - Colin Powell

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
      
The true test of a person's character is how they treat the people in life that they don't need.
- Lee Corso

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.
- Malcolm S. Forbes

Character is the total of thousands of small daily strivings to live up to the best that is in us.
- A. G. Trudeau

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
- Abraham Lincoln

A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.
- William Arthur Ward

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
- Sam Ewing

Our character...is an omen of our destiny, and the more integrity we have and keep, the simpler and nobler that destiny is likely to be.
- George Santayana

 I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.
- Abraham Lincoln

Whatever you are, be a good one.
- Abraham Lincoln

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
- John Quincy Adams

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.
- Confucius

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
- Buddha

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
- Nelson Mandela

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
- Jesus Christ

Every one of us receives and passes on an inheritance. The inheritance may not be an accumulation of earthly possessions or acquired riches, but whether we realize it or not, our choices, words, actions, and values will impact someone and form the heritage we hand down.
- Ben Hardesty

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
- Sir Winston Churchill

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Change is not something that we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they're meant to be.
- B.K.S. Iyengar

A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
- William G.T. Shedd

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
- Bob Moawad

Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
 - Minor Myers Jr.

Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.
- Henry David Thoreau

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love yourself, respect yourself. Never sell yourself short. Believe in yourself regardless of what other people think. You can accomplish anything, absolutely anything, if you set your mind to it.
- Marcus Allen

I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
- J.K. Rowling

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
- Henry David Thoreau

Be the change you want to see in the world.
- Ghandi