Theme
Character
Integrity, virtue, and who you are when no one is watching.
Every quote here is provenance-checked. AI will happily put a fake quote on a beautiful slide — these are the ones you can actually use, with the right name on them.
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Verified quotes about character
Each is traced to a real source and correctly credited. ✓ Free to use = public domain, cleared for commercial reuse. Open one for a paste-ready credit line and its reuse status.
“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”
“A grateful mind is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the other virtues”
“A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”
“A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth”
“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself”
“A pessimist is one who sees a disaster in every opportunity. An optimist sees opportunity in every disaster”
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
“All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”
“Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature—it requires, in fact, the nature of a true Individualist—to sympathise with a friend's success”
“Art, Like Morality, Consists of Drawing the Line Somewhere”
“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is”
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”
“Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man”
“Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none”
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth”
“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot”
“Be worthy love, and love will come”
“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise”
“Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy”
“But I don't want to go among mad people, Alice remarked. Oh, you can't help that, said the Cat: we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad”
“By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart”
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation”
“Conventionality is not morality”
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once”
“Crazy-busy is a great armor, it's a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we're feeling and what we really need can't catch up with us”
“Death hangs over thee: whilst yet thou livest, whilst thou mayest, be good”
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway”
“Don't Bend; Don't Water It Down; Don't Try to Make It Logical; Don't Edit Your Own Soul According to the Fashion”
“Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines”
“Every habit and faculty is maintained and increased by the corresponding actions: the habit of walking by walking, the habit of running by running. If you would be a good reader, read; if a writer, write”
“Every individual is an exception to the rule”
“Every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave has had kings among his ancestors”
“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do”
“Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are”
“Every society honors its live conformists, and its dead troublemakers”
“Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story”
“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are”
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way”
“Failure is an event, not a person”
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you”
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do”
“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all”
“For this one virtue is not only the greatest, but is also the parent of all the other virtues”
“Get over yourself! 'Cause it's not about you, man”
“Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people”
“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed down-stairs a step at a time”
“Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue”
“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts”
“He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty”
“Hitch your wagon to a star”
“Hitler didn't snub me; it was our president who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram”
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me”
“I am the greatest! I'm the greatest thing that ever lived”
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”
“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely”
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse”
“I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine”
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”
“I exist as I am, that is enough”
“I have never thrown an illegal pitch. The trouble is some of my pitches were never seen by this generation until I came along”
“I owe the public nothing”
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others”
“I probably have a 20,000-word vocabulary. I'll match my wits with anyone on literature, science and the arts”
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am”
“I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him”
“I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being”
“I'm the best ever. I'm the most brutal and vicious, and most ruthless champion there's ever been. There's no one that can stop me. Lennox is a conqueror? No, I'm Alexander! He's no Alexander. I'm the best ever. There's never been anybody as ruthless. I'm Sonny Liston. I'm Jack Dempsey. There's no one like me. I'm from their cloth. There is no one that can match me. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!”
“I've always believed the British Open is one of the greatest championships in the world”
“If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it”
“If You Want to Know What a Man's Like, Look at How He Treats His Inferiors”
“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different”
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”
“In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon”
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better”
“It is well said, then, that it is by doing just acts that the just man is produced, and by doing temperate acts the temperate man”
“It's the Guy You Give Something To That You Can't Please”
“Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day”
“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs”
“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'”
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none”
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose”
“My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud, for big powerful America”
“Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your own family to read”
“No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such”
“No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind”
“No matter what, people are going to like you or not like you. So be authentic, and let them like you or not for who you actually are”
“No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem”
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not”
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”
“Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind”
“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”
“Read my lips: no new taxes”
“Riches and honours acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud”
“Run mad as often as you choose, but do not faint”
“So I'm Ugly. So What? I Never Saw Anyone Hit with His Face”
“Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it”
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
“Strive manfully; custom is overcome by custom”
“Strong people always have strong weaknesses too”
“Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts”
“That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love”
“That's the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing”
“The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer”
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted”
“The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife”
“The first thing is character, before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it. A man I do not trust could not get money from me on all the bonds in Christendom”
“The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it — basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them”
“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom”
“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself”
“The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has”
“The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself”
“The only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead”
“The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes”
“The quality of your life is the quality of your communication”
“The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance”
“The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief”
“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil”
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts”
“The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”
“The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills”
“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity”
“There is no such thing as society”
“There is nothing quite so tragic as a young cynic, because it means the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing”
“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America”
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about”
“They Haven't Done Anything to My Book. It's Right There on the Shelf”
“Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel”
“Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do”
“To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning”
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost”
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by”
“Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our greatest measure of courage”
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be”
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit”
“What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others”
“When a man is at peace with his gods and ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm”
“When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better”
“When they go low, we go high”
“When you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you”
“Without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently”
“Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it”
“A penalty is a cowardly way to score”
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does”
“Age before beauty. Pearls before swine”
“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut”
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected”
“Beneath the Phony Tinsel of Hollywood You'll Find the Real Tinsel”
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”
“Character is destiny”
“Deeds, not words”
“Each person must live their life as a model for others”
“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence”
“Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pelé. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man”
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose”
“Football is a game played with arms, legs and shoulders but mostly from the neck up”
“For the love of money is the root of all evil”
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others”
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony”
“He had shoulder surgery on his elbow”
“Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul”
“I always swing at the ball with all my might. I hit or miss big”
“I am a deeply superficial person”
“I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying”
“I must also have a dark side if I am to be whole”
“I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception”
“I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger”
“I've found that you don't need to wear a necktie if you can hit”
“If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all”
“If the path before you is clear, you're probably on someone else's”
“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude”
“If You Can't Say Something Good About Someone, Sit Right Here by Me”
“In a world of individuals, comparison is a senseless activity”
“In all my years of football I've never known a man who talked more and won less than Steve Gutman”
“In dreams begins responsibility”
“It's easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time”
“It's hard not to play golf that's up to Jack Nicklaus standards when you are Jack Nicklaus”
“Keep Away from People Who Try to Belittle Your Ambitions”
“Laugh at what you hold sacred, and still hold it sacred”
“Live each day as if it were your last”
“Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty”
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”
“She Runs the Gamut of Human Emotion from A to B”
“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable”
“Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful”
“The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself — the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us — that's where it's at”
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any”
“The only thing dumber than a pitcher is two pitchers”
“The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads — in the end — to the best within us”
“The way to do is to be”
“The way to recover the meaning of life and the worthwhileness of life is to recover the power of experience, to have impulse voices from within, and to be able to hear these impulse voices from within”
“There Are Two Kinds of People, Those Who Do the Work and Those Who Take the Credit”
“They invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays”
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one”
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons”
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make”
“When you stop talking, you've lost your customer. When you turn your back, you've lost her”
“Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place”
“Winning isn't a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing”
“Women want mediocre men, and men are working hard to be as mediocre as possible”
“You don't understand our American humor”
“You handle animals. You deal with people”
“You May Tell the Butcher's Wife That Lady Peel Has Finished”
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right”
“You will never win if you have to prove that you are the winner”
No public-domain quotes on this theme yet — try another, or use an in-copyright one with attribution.
Don’t get caught out
Commonly shared about character — but misattributed
Popular character lines that get pinned on the wrong name. If you use one, credit it correctly.
“The One Who Follows the Crowd Will Usually Go No Further Than the Crowd”
ReallyAlan Ashley-Pitt · not Albert Einstein
“If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate”
ReallyUnknown · not Richard Feynman
“Now We’re Just Haggling Over the Price”
ReallyUnknown — a circulating anecdote · not Bertrand Russell
“No individual raindrop ever considers itself responsible for the flood”
ReallySydney J. Harris · not Douglas Adams
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity”
ReallyDonald A. Adams · not Douglas Adams
“I Have Never Killed Any One, But I Have Read Some Obituary Notices with Great Satisfaction”
ReallyClarence Darrow · not Mark Twain
“She is always kind to her inferiors. — But where does she find them?”
ReallyDorothy Parker
“When I hear artists or authors making fun of business men, I think of a regiment in which the band makes fun of the cooks”
ReallyAuthor unidentified · not H. L. Mencken
“When somebody says it's not about the money, it's about the money”
ReallyKin Hubbard · not H. L. Mencken
“A pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both”
ReallyUnknown (anonymous quip) · not Oscar Wilde
“I have nothing to declare except my genius”
ReallyUnknown · not Oscar Wilde
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go”
ReallyAnonymous · not Oscar Wilde
“A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain”
ReallyUnknown — the saying is anonymous · not Robert Frost
“A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age”
ReallyNo verified author · not Robert Frost
“A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel”
ReallyRobert Frost · but not in these words
“Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it”
ReallyUnknown — an anonymous American gag line · not Harry S. Truman
“Be careful to trust a person who does not like wine”
ReallyKarl Marx
“Have I gone mad? I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are”
ReallyLinda Woolverton · not Lewis Carroll