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character quotes

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“the more peculiarly his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.” Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Duties
“To such an extent does passion manifest itself in us as a temporary and distinct character, which not only takes the place of our normal character but actually obliterates the signs by which that character has hitherto been discernible.” Marcel Proust, Swann's Way
“A man's character is his guardian divinity.” Heraclitus, On Nature
“The man of character finds an especial attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities.” Charles de Gaulle, The Edge of the Sword
“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 Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles
“I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on to the stage he was fully born.” Charlie Chaplin, My Autobiography
“One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.” Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
“But what a man does out of despair, is not necessarily a key to his character. I have always thought that the real key is in that which he seeks for his enjoyment.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.” Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
“the States are as the men are; they grow out of human characters.” Plato, The Republic
“Then beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity,—I mean the true simplicity of a rightly and nobly ordered mind and character, not that other simplicity which is only an euphemism for folly?” Plato, The Republic
“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography
“When we see men of worth, we should think of equalling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.” Confucius, Analects
“The years 19 and 20 are a crucial stage in the maturation of character, and if you allow yourself to become warped when you're that age, it will cause you pain when you're older.” Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
“if hawks have always had the same character why should you imagine that men may have changed theirs?” Voltaire, Candide
“I've learned one thing: you only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character!” Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
“Individuality is founded in feeling; and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making, and directly perceive how events happen, and how work is...” William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience
“I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event” Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
“There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil—a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.” John Green, Looking for Alaska
“I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding—certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of other so...” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“Men sometimes didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t.” Marilyn Monroe, My Story
“The chief one was to remember that camping was a good way to find out people’s characters. Those who were selfish showed it very soon, in that they wanted the best bed or the best food and did not want to do their share of the work.” Eleanor Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt

Related topics

men achievement temper education youth democracy change passion self mind understanding work beauty state vote war dreams writing age simplicity

Related authors

Jane Austen (2)
Plato (2)
Confucius (1)
Anne Frank (1)
Voltaire (1)
Henry David Thoreau (1)
Theodore Roosevelt (1)
Haruki Murakami (1)
Thomas Hardy (1)
Ayn Rand (1)
Stephen King (1)
John Green (1)
Marcus Tullius Cicero (1)
Kurt Vonnegut (1)
Marilyn Monroe (1)
Heraclitus (1)
Charlie Chaplin (1)
Marcel Proust (1)
Eleanor Roosevelt (1)
William James (1)

Related sources

The Republic (2)
Pride and Prejudice (2)
Analects (1)
The Diary of a Young Girl (1)
Norwegian Wood (1)
On Nature (1)
Atlas Shrugged (1)
My Story (1)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1)
My Autobiography (1)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1)
On Duties (1)
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1)
Looking for Alaska (1)
Candide (1)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (1)
Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography (1)
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1)
The Edge of the Sword (1)
Swann's Way (1)