A collection of best character quotes and thoughts including character-and-integrity, development, reputation, and character-building

Interesting Quotes About Character

Character comprises of the distinctive moral and mental qualities of an individual. Character is the foundation of who you are. It speaks loudly about the kind of person you are, what you think of yourself and your opinion about others and your surroundings. Character creation is an art that involves various hues and tones. There is no one rule that governs character building. It is also said that our true character is revealed when no one is watching and yes, it holds true. Character of a person is influenced by the social and cultural environment in which one lives. Here is a compilation of quotations and sayings by eminent leaders, famous personalities, celebrities and motivational speakers and leaders on character which are quoted extensively. Go through the famous and inspiring list of quotable quotations and thoughts on character that will help you improve your unique identity.

The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.

The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.
Abigail Van Buren

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

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

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
Anne Frank

A river is the most human and companionable of all inanimate things. It has a life, a character, a voice of its own; and it is as full of good fellowship as a sugar maple is of sap. It can talk in various tones, loud or low, and of many subjects grave and gay.... For real company and friendship there is nothing, outside of the animal kingdom, that is comparable to a river.
Henry Van Dyke

What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.

What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.
Henry Van Dyke

One can acquire everything in solitude except character.

One can acquire everything in solitude except character.
Stendhal

Become major, Paul. Live like a hero. That's what the classics teach us. Be a main character. Otherwise what is life for?

Become major, Paul. Live like a hero. That's what the classics teach us. Be a main character. Otherwise what is life for?
J. M. Coetzee

If you feel that there's the author and then the character, then the book is not working. People have a habit of identifying the author with the narrator, and you can't, obviously, be all of the narrators in all of your books, or else you'd be a very strange person indeed.
Margaret Atwood

I think the key divide between the interactive media and the narrative media is the difficulty in opening up an empathic pathway between the gamer and the character, as differentiated from the audience and the characters in a movie or a television show.
Steven Spielberg

Like all of my friends, she's a lousy judge of character.

Like all of my friends, she's a lousy judge of character.
David Sedaris

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller

Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?

Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?
Cornelia Funke

I mean, can I really create a full, three-dimensional character? I don't know anymore. I'm certainly going to try.

I mean, can I really create a full, three-dimensional character? I don't know anymore. I'm certainly going to try.
Bette Midler

You know when you watch old movies, it's always the small parts you remember, the character actors who come in like a breath of fresh air.

You know when you watch old movies, it's always the small parts you remember, the character actors who come in like a breath of fresh air.
Amy Sedaris

You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.

You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.
Paul McCartney

A man's true character comes out when he's drunk.

A man's true character comes out when he's drunk.
Charlie Chaplin

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
Albert Einstein

'The Color Purple' is the kind of character piece that a director like Sidney Lumet could do brilliantly with one hand tied behind his back.

'The Color Purple' is the kind of character piece that a director like Sidney Lumet could do brilliantly with one hand tied behind his back.
Steven Spielberg

Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.

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

People do not seem to realise that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.

People do not seem to realise that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Novels are political because in them, we try to identify with people who are not like us. And, in that sense, I like the first-person singular because I have to imitate accurately the voice of someone who is not like me. The third-person singular gives me an authority over a character.
Orhan Pamuk

Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.

Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.
Anne Frank

What is learned on the athletic field is not forgotten, nor are the lessons of character that are forged there ever lost. Consider the contributions in the field of public life, business, law, medicine, and the military of those who actively participated in athletics.
Robert F. Kennedy

In 1977, I wrote a series of poems about a character, Black Bart, a former cattle rustler-turned-alchemist. A good friend, Claude Purdy, who is a stage director, suggested I turn the poems into a play.

In 1977, I wrote a series of poems about a character, Black Bart, a former cattle rustler-turned-alchemist. A good friend, Claude Purdy, who is a stage director, suggested I turn the poems into a play.
August Wilson

Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.

Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Character is doing what you don't want to do but know you should do.

Character is doing what you don't want to do but know you should do.
Joyce Meyer

Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.

Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.
Arthur Schopenhauer

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
Hermann Hesse

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.
Ernest Hemingway

I don't think it's at all weakening of the system if people with the same last name put themselves forward to the electorate, when their experiences, their character, and in my case, gender, may be different.

I don't think it's at all weakening of the system if people with the same last name put themselves forward to the electorate, when their experiences, their character, and in my case, gender, may be different.
Hillary Clinton

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.
Eleanor Roosevelt

You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.

You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.
Ronald Reagan

A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.
Theodore Roosevelt

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.
Kurt Vonnegut

One of the great things about my mother is she really valued people's character more than what they did.

One of the great things about my mother is she really valued people's character more than what they did.
Hillary Clinton

To disappear your complete self into a character is quite difficult. I've tried it 85 times, and I've succeeded two or three times.

To disappear your complete self into a character is quite difficult. I've tried it 85 times, and I've succeeded two or three times.
Sir Michael Caine

Actually, they [ Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump] are doing pretty well on their own. They don't need my character to step in.

Actually, they [ Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump] are doing pretty well on their own. They don't need my character to step in.
Sandra Bullock

About Superman and Batman: the former is how America views itself, the latter, darker character is how the rest of the world views America.

About Superman and Batman: the former is how America views itself, the latter, darker character is how the rest of the world views America.
Sir Michael Caine

Character is fate.
Sylvia Plath

There is no parallel in the history of the world. This mighty subcontinent with all kinds of inhabitants has been brought under a plan which is titanic, unknown, unparalleled. And what is very important with regard to it is that we have achieved it peacefully and by means of an evolution of the greatest possible character.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah

The costume designer designing clothes that helped the comedy in The Proposal, that sold the character. Each and every detail was so perfectly thought of, what wouldn't be here? That's a lost art.

The costume designer designing clothes that helped the comedy in The Proposal, that sold the character. Each and every detail was so perfectly thought of, what wouldn't be here? That's a lost art.
Sandra Bullock

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
James A. Michener

Nothing marks a man's character better than his attraction to intelligence.

Nothing marks a man's character better than his attraction to intelligence.
Terry Goodkind

Character is simply habit long continued.

Character is simply habit long continued.
Plato

If I was to pick a cartoon character I am most like, I would say Daisy Duck because she is very stubborn, she has a very feminine sense, and she knows what she likes.

If I was to pick a cartoon character I am most like, I would say Daisy Duck because she is very stubborn, she has a very feminine sense, and she knows what she likes.
Britney Spears

It's more fun to play a good character with a good director and good actors around you. That's what makes it fun, and the more variety, the better.

It's more fun to play a good character with a good director and good actors around you. That's what makes it fun, and the more variety, the better.
Salma Hayek

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.

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

Making a movie where the central character is a horse was a challenge. Because I'm scared of riding. I was thrown as a kid. One of my daughters is a competitive jumper, we live with horses, we have stables on our property. But I don't ride. I observe, and I worry.
Steven Spielberg

I've made the transition from star to character actor and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I've made the transition from star to character actor and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Sir Michael Caine

But really, for the most part - doing a prequel is great because you do have room to kind of free this character and how they got to where they are instead of being a slave to exactly what the previous actor did.

But really, for the most part - doing a prequel is great because you do have room to kind of free this character and how they got to where they are instead of being a slave to exactly what the previous actor did.
Jennifer Lawrence

A pretty face may be enough to catch a man, but it takes character and good nature to hold him.

A pretty face may be enough to catch a man, but it takes character and good nature to hold him.
Thomas More

I'm a lurid character!
George Orson Welles

My characters are more like men than these real men are, see. They're rough and rude, they got hands and they got bellies. They hate and they lust; break the skin of civilization and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed.
Robert E. Howard

People are just funny sometimes if you find the right character.

People are just funny sometimes if you find the right character.
Natalie Portman

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.
George W. Bush

I'd got over playing a character. People accepted who I was, and if I was incompetent and useless, they felt quite endeared to me.

I'd got over playing a character. People accepted who I was, and if I was incompetent and useless, they felt quite endeared to me.
Michael Palin

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

None of us is responsible for the complexion of his skin. This fact of nature offers no clue to the character or quality of the person underneath.

None of us is responsible for the complexion of his skin. This fact of nature offers no clue to the character or quality of the person underneath.
Marian Anderson

When you play a real person, you feel a sense of responsibility that obviously you don't feel when you're playing a fictional character.

When you play a real person, you feel a sense of responsibility that obviously you don't feel when you're playing a fictional character.
Natalie Dormer

I think you always need to be able to relate to your characters, but that doesn't necessarily mean...you have to understand why they do what they do, but you don't actually have to be like that yourself.

I think you always need to be able to relate to your characters, but that doesn't necessarily mean...you have to understand why they do what they do, but you don't actually have to be like that yourself.
Natalie Portman

In character, in manner, in style, in all the things, the supreme excellence is simplicity

In character, in manner, in style, in all the things, the supreme excellence is simplicity
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's hard to get lost in a scene, to get into a character when everyone's standing around you on the set.

It's hard to get lost in a scene, to get into a character when everyone's standing around you on the set.
Kirsten Dunst

It's such a private thing - 'my process' - I can just say that the work that I do is like therapy between me and the character.

It's such a private thing - 'my process' - I can just say that the work that I do is like therapy between me and the character.
Kirsten Dunst

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.

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

So I never spend a lot of time analyzing why people respond to my work. But I think that it's just the joy, a passion for life, that I think has always been in my characters. Beyond that, I'm just grateful for it.

So I never spend a lot of time analyzing why people respond to my work. But I think that it's just the joy, a passion for life, that I think has always been in my characters. Beyond that, I'm just grateful for it.
Michael J. Fox

To me, there are things you're good at and things you're not so good at. For some reason, I'm good at darker characters. It has to do with how you look.

To me, there are things you're good at and things you're not so good at. For some reason, I'm good at darker characters. It has to do with how you look.
Christopher Walken

I'm not particularly interested in playing characters that think the way I do.

I'm not particularly interested in playing characters that think the way I do.
Cate Blanchett

It really wasn't my thing. It still isn't my thing, the whole science-fiction action thing. I prefer simpler, character-based movies.

It really wasn't my thing. It still isn't my thing, the whole science-fiction action thing. I prefer simpler, character-based movies.
Natalie Portman

I was born with an adult head and a tiny body. Like a 'Peanuts' character.

I was born with an adult head and a tiny body. Like a 'Peanuts' character.
Jon Stewart

My hope is that people will be repulsed by the character's complete lack of ethics and obsession with consumerism - that's what I was saying about the difference between the character's message and the film's message.

My hope is that people will be repulsed by the character's complete lack of ethics and obsession with consumerism - that's what I was saying about the difference between the character's message and the film's message.
Christian Bale

I'm always terrified before every movie because I haven't found her [the character], and I don't get it. [Without acting, I'd have] become a nurse.

I'm always terrified before every movie because I haven't found her [the character], and I don't get it. [Without acting, I'd have] become a nurse.
Jennifer Lawrence

I don't think I'm like any of the characters I've played. They're all really far from who I am.

I don't think I'm like any of the characters I've played. They're all really far from who I am.
Christian Bale

A man's own manner and character is what most becomes him.

A man's own manner and character is what most becomes him.
Cicero

The 'Rescue Me' gig was a unique opportunity to play a character - a misanthropic, angry guy - who was so contrary to how people think of me.

The 'Rescue Me' gig was a unique opportunity to play a character - a misanthropic, angry guy - who was so contrary to how people think of me.
Michael J. Fox

I do really believe that all guitarists have a different character that comes through, that's a strong character, the stronger the person is.

I do really believe that all guitarists have a different character that comes through, that's a strong character, the stronger the person is.
Jimmy Page

I've always played very human sort of characters.

I've always played very human sort of characters.
Sir Michael Caine

I studied psychology in school, and the best psychology is in literature. It's so much easier to understand a character than a theory. You can recognize yourself—or other people—in a different way.

I studied psychology in school, and the best psychology is in literature. It's so much easier to understand a character than a theory. You can recognize yourself—or other people—in a different way.
Natalie Portman

I don't have acknowledged preferences of characters.

I don't have acknowledged preferences of characters.
Christian Bale

Each role, I feel like takes you on a different journey based on who that character is.

Each role, I feel like takes you on a different journey based on who that character is.
Mark Ruffalo

When you're trying to do character work that's different from what people expect from you, you're sort of in territory that is uncharted, and you don't know how it's playing all the time.

When you're trying to do character work that's different from what people expect from you, you're sort of in territory that is uncharted, and you don't know how it's playing all the time.
Mark Ruffalo

I want to play a character I've never been before-a crazy serial killer like Charlize Theron in Monster. I'd love to have to shave my head.

I want to play a character I've never been before-a crazy serial killer like Charlize Theron in Monster. I'd love to have to shave my head.
Jennifer Lawrence

Triple D is all about three things: Food, story and character.

Triple D is all about three things: Food, story and character.
Guy Fieri

I think that a lot of women that know they're going to be part of history somehow decide to have a character to be remembered by.

I think that a lot of women that know they're going to be part of history somehow decide to have a character to be remembered by.
Salma Hayek

When I sit down to talk to men's magazines, there's a certain character that I play. She's not fully fleshed out - she doesn't have her own name - but she shows up to do men's-magazine interviews.

When I sit down to talk to men's magazines, there's a certain character that I play. She's not fully fleshed out - she doesn't have her own name - but she shows up to do men's-magazine interviews.
Megan Fox

I'm very vain about my performance. I want to give as honest a performance as I can. But I'm not so worried about being regarded as beautiful when I'm playing a character.

I'm very vain about my performance. I want to give as honest a performance as I can. But I'm not so worried about being regarded as beautiful when I'm playing a character.
Claire Danes

Every role affects an actor a little bit. There's always a little chunk of a character that stays left over in your heart.

Every role affects an actor a little bit. There's always a little chunk of a character that stays left over in your heart.
Natalie Dormer

I feel like women have an easier time separating from their characters than men do.

I feel like women have an easier time separating from their characters than men do.
Vanessa Hudgens

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Thomas Paine

Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.

Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.
Marcus Aurelius

And whether you're drawn to gospel music or church music or honky-tonk music, it informs your character and it informs your talent.

And whether you're drawn to gospel music or church music or honky-tonk music, it informs your character and it informs your talent.
Bruce Springsteen

He has such a clear vision of exactly what he wanted out of each character, out of each set, out of each wardrobe change, out of each emotional beat, and action.

He has such a clear vision of exactly what he wanted out of each character, out of each set, out of each wardrobe change, out of each emotional beat, and action.
Ryan Reynolds

Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.

Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.
Aristotle

I believe you can only draw from your own life as an actor. All the characters I've played, I only have my infinite eye and the presence of my life to take from.

I believe you can only draw from your own life as an actor. All the characters I've played, I only have my infinite eye and the presence of my life to take from.
Pierce Brosnan

Movies and acting are so much fun. I love playing different characters and doing different genres. It's all still very interesting to me.

Movies and acting are so much fun. I love playing different characters and doing different genres. It's all still very interesting to me.
Vanessa Hudgens

I've always used my own personal emotions and things that I've gone through in my life to build a character. The work that I do before a film feels almost like therapy, between me and whoever I'm playing.

I've always used my own personal emotions and things that I've gone through in my life to build a character. The work that I do before a film feels almost like therapy, between me and whoever I'm playing.
Kirsten Dunst

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It's tough. It's very tricky to throw a morally flexible character onto the screen and have an audience empathize. It's always an exercise in restraint.

It's tough. It's very tricky to throw a morally flexible character onto the screen and have an audience empathize. It's always an exercise in restraint.
Ryan Reynolds

A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
James Allen

I think for everyone it's good to have your own personal work on a character and a film before you even start rehearsing, to have an inner life.

I think for everyone it's good to have your own personal work on a character and a film before you even start rehearsing, to have an inner life.
Kirsten Dunst

I do have some kind of gravitational pull towards young characters with more responsibility than they should have.

I do have some kind of gravitational pull towards young characters with more responsibility than they should have.
Jennifer Lawrence

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.
Bruce Lee

I look at whatever the finish line is for the character and then kind of act backwards from that and play him in such a way so that that finish line is more rewarding.

I look at whatever the finish line is for the character and then kind of act backwards from that and play him in such a way so that that finish line is more rewarding.
Jason Bateman

Interesting Quotes About Character

Change

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Culture

Death

Dreams

Ego