Character

If we can implant in our people the Christian virtues which we sum up in the word character, and, at the same time, give them a knowledge of the line which should be drawn between voluntary action and governmental compulsion in a democracy, and of what can be accomplished within the stern laws of economics, we will enable them to retain their freedom, and at the same time, make them worthy to be free.
~ Winthrop Williams Aldrich

Beautiful and noble characters can find nothing so enchanting as a beautiful and noble character.
~ William Rounseville (W.R.) Alger, The Friendships of Women (1868). Preface

Certainly, it is a world of scarcity. But the scarcity is not confined to iron ore and arable land. The most constricting scarcities are those of character and personality.
~ William R. Allen, in California Political Review (January 1993). Bunnie Rabbit, Winnie, and the Grand Plan

Don't mistake personality for character.
~ Wilma Askinas

Moral education -- the training of heart and mind toward the good -- involves many things. It involves rules and precepts -- the do's and don'ts of life with others -- as well as explicit instructions, exhortations, and training. If we want our children to possess the traits of character we most admire, we need to teach them what those traits are and why they deserve both admiration and allegiance. Children must learn to identify the forms and content of those traits.
~ William John Bennett, The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (1993).

People of good character are not all going to come down on the same side of difficult political and social issues. Good people -- people of character and moral literacy -- can be conservative, and good people can be liberal. We must not permit our disputes over thorny political questions to obscure the obligation we have to offer instruction to all our young people in the area in which we have, as a society, reached a consensus: namely, on the importance of good character, and on some of its pervasive particulars.
~ William John Bennett, The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (1993). Introduction

[T]he formation of character in young people is educationally a different task from, and a prior task to, the discussion of the great, difficult, ethical controversies of the day. First things first. And planting the ideas of virtue, of good traits in the young, comes first. In the moral life, as in life itself, we take one step at a time. Every field has its complexities and controversies. And so does ethics. And every field has its basics. So too with values.
~ William John Bennett, The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories (1993). Introduction

We can learn to raise our sights a bit. For as Abigail Adams warned, if we are surrounded by the trivial and the vicious, it is all too easy to make our peace with it. Human beings can adjust to anything.
~ William John Bennett, Our Sacred Honor: Words of Advice from the Founders in Stories, Letters, Poems, and Speeches (1997).

I would have to agree with the fact that most actors are schizophrenic. They are able to escape in other roles. Of course, many of your own personal manifestations go into that characterization ...
~ Bill Bixby, The Mike Douglas Show (March 1972).

I care not whether a man is Good or Evil; all that I care
Is whether he is a Wise Man or a Fool. Go! put off Holiness,
And put on Intellect.
~ William Blake, from Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804). The Cry of Los

The place to take the true measure of a man is not the market-place or the amen-corner, not the forum or field, but at his fireside. There he lays aside his mask and you may learn whether he's an imp or angel, king or cur, hero or Humbug.
~ William Cowper Brann, in Brann the Iconoclast: A Collection of the Writings of W.C. Brann, Vol. I (1898). Humbugs and Humbuggery

Whether a man steals much or little may depend upon his opportunities, but whether he steals at all depends upon his own volition.
~ William Jennings Bryan, Speech delivered at Washington's Day Banquet, Washington, DC (22 February 1899). America's Mission

There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he is absolutely free to choose.
~ William M. Bulger

And so I began to do my silly women. These characters, these bird-witted ladies whom I have characterized so often ... derive from my part in The Vinegar Tree. I am neatly typed ... possibly irrevocably typed, although I sincerely hope not, for I should like better parts, for those are the roles that I was trained in -- the gay but intelligent, well-written, funny but believable roles. ... But if people will laugh at my work and keep a sound roof over my head, who am I to complain?
~ Billie Burke (Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke), With a Feather on My Nose (1949).

Every human being is intended to have a character of his own, to be what no other is, and to do what no other can do.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), in The Christian Examiner (September 1829). Remarks on Associations

Grandeur of character lies wholly in force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), Address Introductory to the Franklin Lectures, Boston MA (September 1838). On Self-Culture

The great hope of society, is individual character.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), in The Christian Examiner (1827-28). Remarks on the Life and Character of Napoleon Bonaparte, Part II

[T]he noblest influence on earth is that exerted on character; and he who puts forth this does a great work, no matter how narrow or obscure his sphere.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), Address Introductory to the Franklin Lectures, Boston MA (September 1838). On Self-Culture

We never know a great character until something congenial to it has grown up within ourselves.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), from Discourses (1832). Discourse XI

But you do a character for five years, every day, 14 hours a day, 10 months out of a year, and the walls that you've built up between yourself and this character necessarily come down. Like I bleed through into Mulder all the time, just because I can't be as vigilant as I was in the beginning.
~ David William Duchovny, The Charlie Rose Show (Interview; 18 June 1998).

It is obvious that character can be changed -- if we will.
~ William James "Will" Durant, The Mansions of Philosophy: A Survey Of Human Life And Destiny (1929). Part IV. Chapter XII: The Reconstruction of Character

[I]t takes an awful lot of character to quit anything vhen you are losing.
~ William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!: The Corrected Text (1990).

Any characteristic that you can't stand in another person is an aspect of you that you can't stand in yourself. Once you discover that this characteristic is also in you, your resistance towards the other person gets replaced with compassion.
~ Bill Ferguson

Desire may urge in one direction, Conscience may point in another, and the Will determines. Action follows, and character is formed by action.
~ William Fleming, A Manual of Moral Philosophy (1860). Part I, Book III: Of the Difference Between Desiring and Willing

I tend to be attracted to characters who are up against a wall with very few alternatives. And the film then becomes an examination of how they cope with very few options. And that's, I guess, what interests me in terms of human behavior.
~ William Friedkin, The Harold Lloyd Master Seminar Series at the American Film Institute (16 March 1994).

[P]erfectibility is one of the most unequivocal characteristics of the human species.
~ William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793). Book I. Chapter II. History Of Political Society

Integrity means that we are trustworthy and dependable, and our character is above reproach.
~ Billy Graham, from Billy Graham in Quotes (2011).

Nothing reveals character more than self-sacrifice.
~ William Harris

Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space feels itself excluded.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

[G]ood temper is an estate for life.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume II (1826). On Personal Character

Strength of character as well as strength of understanding is one of the guides that point the way to truth.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

The characteristic of Chaucer is intensity, of Spencer, remoteness; of Milton, elevation; of Shakespeare, everything.
~ William Hazlitt, from Lectures on the English Poets (1818). Lecture III: On Shakespeare and Milton

There is nothing more to be esteemed than a manly firmness and decision of character.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk, or Original Essays on Men and Manners, 2nd series (1824). On Effeminacy of Character

We may, with instruction and opportunity mend our manners, or else alter for the worse, -- as the flesh and fortune shall serve; but the character, the internal, original bias, remains always the same, true to itself to the very last.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume II (1826). On Personal Character

[W]e should mind our own business, cultivate our good qualities, if we have any, and irritate ourselves less about the absurdities of other people, which neither we nor they can help.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume II (1826). On Personal Character

We are sent into the world that we may learn truly to live, and it is only what we have wrought into our character during life that we can take away with us.
~ Wilhelm von Humboldt, in Thoughts and Opinions of a Statesman (1849). Letter XI

Truly, spiritual courage is on the endangered character-quality list.
~ Bill Hybels, Who Are You When No One's Looking (1987). An Endangered Trait

The proper time to influence the character of a child is about 100 years before he is born.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge

It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.
~ William James, The Principles of Psychology (1890). Vol. 1, Chapter IV: Habit

The perfection of rottenness.
~ William James (of George Santayana's "Interpretations of Poetry and Religion")

Let us face the great truth that the greatest success in the world is that of those brave souls who made a hard fight, on the battle-field of life, for character -- and won.
~ William George Jordan, The Trusteeship of Life (1921). IV. What Money Cannot Buy

Dollars have never been known to produce character, and character will never be produced by money.
~ W.K. Kellogg, in I'll Invest My Money in People (1979).

His path is smooth
Who early knows himself.
~ William Edward Hartpole (E.H.) Lecky, from Poems (1891). Character

The petty cares, the minute anxieties, the infinite littles which go to make up the sum of human experience, like the invisible granules of powder, give the last and highest polish to a character.
~ William Mathews, from The Great Conversers, And Other Essays (1874). II. Literary Clubs

[C]ulture is not just an ornament or a decoration. It is not the icing on the cake or the frill on a skirt. If it were, it would not be very important. Culture is the expression of a nation's character, and at the same time it is a powerful instrument to mould character. The end of culture is right living.
~ W. Somerset Maugham

It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence (1919). Chapter XVII

[T]o bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give.
~ W. Somerset Maugham

What we call personality or character is a highly complex product of a long integrative process, a process which may go wrong and may be largely undone at any stage.
~ William McDougall, An Introduction to Social Psychology (1908).

The "Will" is character in action.
~ William McDougall, An Outline of Psychology (1923).

Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in one ahead.
~ Bill McGlashen

The test of a man's character is not the mistakes he makes but the way he responds to them.
~ Bill Moyers, quoted in Broken (2007).

Character is determined more by the lack of certain experiences than by those one has had.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Health and sickness, enjoyment and suffering, riches and poverty, knowledge and ignorance, power and subjection, liberty and bondage, civilization and barbarity, have all their offices and duties, all serve for the formation of character.
~ William Paley, Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (1802). Chapter XXVI: The Goodness of the Deity

I know some say, let us have good laws and no matter for the men that execute them. But let them consider that though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may want good men, and be abolished or invaded by ill men; but good men will never want good laws, nor suffer ill ones.
~ William Penn, Frame of Government of Pennsylvania (5 May 1682). The Preface

Every social order creates those character forms which it needs for its preservation. In class society, the ruling secures its position with the aid of education and the institution of the family, by making its ideology the ruling ideology of all members of the society.
~ Wilhelm Reich, Character Analysis (1933).

Character formation represents the grand and sublime purpose of life, and character formation is determined by our every thought, word, and action.
~ William S. Sadler, Worry and Nervousness: or, The Science of Self-Mastery (1914). Chapter XXVI. The Exaltation of the Will

Gambling, betting on horses, among others things, is a way of life. The manner in which a man chooses to gamble indicates his character of lack of it.
~ William Saroyan, from Inhale and Exhale (1936). Little Miss Universe

His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, "This was a man!"
~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Act V, scene v

I am a feather for each wind that blows.
~ William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale. Act II, scene iii

O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene iii

There is a kind of character in thy life,
That to the observer doth thy history
Fully unfold.
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act I, scene i

There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I. Act I, scene ii

When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act I, scene ii

Trifles discover a character more than actions of importance.
~ William Shenstone, in Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. II (1764). Essays on Men, Manners, and Things. On Writing and Books

The effect of character is always to command consideration. We sport, and toy, and laugh, with men or women who have none; but we never confide in them.
~ William Gilmore Simms, Egeria: Or, Voices of Thought and Counsel for the Woods and Wayside (1853).

What we call heroism, the great deed of the moment, is the synthesis of a life and character; and character is what you have been doing and thinking all your life.
~ William Soutar, (May 1918)

Security of character would be like a compass, you know? Other people may say that this way is north, or this way might be north. But the compass just says -- north. That's what we count on.
~ William Stafford, Artful Dodge magazine (August 1988). A Conversation with William Stafford

Your reputation is what people say about you, but your character is what God and your wife and the angels know about you.
~ William A. "Billy" Sunday, from "Billy" Sunday, The Man and His Message (1914). Chapter XVII. A Clean Man on Social Sins

While we inherit our temperament, we must build our character.
~ William Laurence Sullivan, Worry! Fear! Loneliness! (1950).

Life, in all its breadth and depth of significance, as the proper exercise and enjoyment of a rational, spiritual, and immortal being, such as a man is, does not consist in possession, but in character.
~ William Mackergo Taylor, The Parables of Our Saviour: Expounded and Illustrated (1886). Chapter XVII: The Foolish Rich Man

A promise is a solemn pledge, in which personal character is involved, whether relating to important or unimportant matters. Of course it should be kept. Integrity of character demands it. A successful career is impossible without it. True manhood and womanhood require it.
~ William Makepeace Thayer, Success: Oracle of the Age (1892). XCVII. Keeping Promises

Character is what a man is. Reputation may be what he is not.
~ William Makepeace Thayer, Tact, Push, And Principle (1880). Principle. Chapter VIII. Character

Whatever a man wants badly and persistently enough will determine the man's character.
~ Aiden Wilson (A.W.) Tozer, The Root of the Righteous (1955).

Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altars of conformity and popularity.
~ William Arthur Ward

To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility -- these are marks of maturity and graciousness.
~ William Arthur Ward

Every time I've built character, I've regretted it.
~ Bill Watterson, from The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes (1992).

Nothing spoils fun like finding out it builds character.
~ Bill Watterson, from Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (1992).

Every great family has a structural character of its own, whereby, whatever may be the varying development of its members, it is made a unit, and more or less strikingly distinguished from the rest.
~ William Dwight Whitney, from Language and the Study of Language: Twelve Lectures on the Principles of Linguistic Science (1867). Lecture X

Every man walks around with a cage he carries around with him until he is dead.
~ Thomas Lanier ("Tennessee") Williams, Not Without Nightingales (1938). Act I

I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people really.
~ Thomas Lanier ("Tennessee") Williams, in The New York Times (18 March 1965).

Some mystery should be left in the revelation of character in a play, just as a great deal of mystery is always left in the revelation of character in life, even in one's own character to himself.
~ Thomas Lanier ("Tennessee") Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955).

[Charisma is] about a sparkle in people that money can't buy. It's an invisible energy with visible effects.
~ Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles (1992).

Most drag impersonations are a drag. But everyone can like Geraldine. The secret of my success with Geraldine is that she's not a put-down of women. She's smart, she's trustful, she's loyal, she's sassy. Most drag impersonations are a drag. But women can like Geraldine, men can like Geraldine, everyone can like Geraldine.
~ Clerow "Flip" Wilson

True character arises from a deeper well than religion. It is the internalization of moral principles of a society, augmented by those tenets personally chosen by the individual, strong enough to endure through trials of solitude and adversity. The principles are fitted together into what we call integrity, literally the integrated self, wherein personal decisions feel good and true. Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others.
~ Edward Osborne (E.O.) Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998).

Character is not the enemy of self-expression and personal freedom, it is their necessary precondition.
~ James Q. Wilson, On Character: Essays (1995). 1. Introduction: Thinking About Character

There are a lot of talented young people out there right now, but somehow or another what's lost is that class; record companies can't give it to them. They don't have departments that can teach it to them, so you don't have that sense with many new artists today. No one can give you class. They can show you how to dress, but there's something about class that no one can give you.
~ Mary Wilson, Venus Magazine (Vol. 6 No. 3). The Mary Wilson Interview: She's No Plain Old Mary

To character and success, two things, contradictory as they may seem, must go together -- humble dependence and manly independence -- humble dependence on God, and manly reliance on self.
~ William Wordsworth

The most important change in how one defines the public interest that I have witnessed ... over the last twenty years has been a deepening concern for the development of character in the citizenry.
~ James Q. Wilson, On Character: Essays (1995).

Fate is character.
~ William Winter, The Stage Life of Mary Anderson (1886). Pauline

[I]t is of little traits that the greatest human character is composed.
~ William Winter, from English Rambles: And Other Fugitive Pieces, in Prose and Verse (1883). II. In Memory of Longfellow. Chapter II: Personal Reflections

Decision of character ... will give to an inferior mind the command over the superior.
~ William Wirt, An Address Before the Peithessophian and Philoclean Societies of Rutgers College (20 July 1830).

Any fool can fight a winning battle, but it needs character to fight a losing one, and that should inspire us.
~ William Butler Yeats, quoted in Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography (1913).

Style, personality -- deliberately adopted and therefore a mask -- is the only escape from the hot-faced bargainers and money-changers.
~ William Butler Yeats, (1909)