111 Character Quotes To Improve Your Personality

Here are 111 of the best character quotes I could find. The goal? To make you realize people with character tend to be calm and persevering. But most of all, they are courageous and take action. You’ll discover quotes by Bruce Lee, Nietzsche, Einstein, and more. Enjoy!

Character is doing what’s right. Jocko Willink

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

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

Reputation is what strangers think of you. Character is what your friends think of you. Ricky Gervais

He is happy, whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent, who can suit his temper to any circumstances. David Hume

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak. Michel de Montaigne

A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself. Michel de Montaigne

You’re offended when you fear that it might be true. Naval Ravikant

You may be sure that you are at peace with yourself when no noise reaches you, when no word shakes you out of yourself. Seneca

Not taking things personally is a superpower. James Clear

Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. Marcus Aurelius

Does what’s happened keep you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humility, straightforwardness, and all the other qualities that allow a person’s nature to fulfill itself? Marcus Aurelius

The wise man is calm, loving and never rushed. He chooses direction over speed, doing over talking, giving over taking, hard over easy. Maxime Lagacé

He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived. Chinese proverb

You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Related

• 75 Patience Quotes To Make You More Tenacious (And Calm)
• 70 Hard Times Quotes To Uplift And Inspire You
• 100 Faith Quotes To Improve Your Conviction

The Best Character Quotes

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What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche

What we know matters but who we are matters more. Brené Brown

Be the first to laugh at your own blunder, and no one will laugh at you. Publilius Syrus

Worry about your character, not your reputation. Your character is who you are and your reputation is what others think you are. Gary Goodridge (Source)

All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride. Sophocles

Having character means you know how to respond so you can keep your inner peace. Maxime Lagacé

When you walk the walk, whether successful or not, you feel more indifferent and robust to people’s opinion, freer, more real. Nassim Nicholas Taleb

You can tell the character of every man when you see how he gives and receives praise. Seneca

Be not fond therefore of praise, but seek virtue that leads to it. William Penn

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. Warren Buffett

A simple strategy to save you so many headaches: don’t care about winning trivial arguments. Someone says something you disagree with? Smile, nod, and move on to more important things. Life is short. Not caring about having the last word will save you so much time. James Clear

The courage of today becomes the character of tomorrow. Maxime Lagacé

You must not be influenced by the opponent. Miyamoto Musashi

It can ruin your life only if it ruins your character. Otherwise it cannot harm you – inside or out. Marcus Aurelius

The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don’t. Marcus Aurelius

What should we work for? Only this: proper understanding; unselfish action; truthful speech. A resolve to accept whatever happens as necessary and familiar; flowing like water from the same source and spring. Marcus Aurelius

Experience has taught me this, that we undo ourselves by impatience. Michel de Montaigne

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself. Pietro Aretino

If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be by what he gives. Robert South

Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness. Yousuf Karsh

We must live our lives to a higher standard. The standard we set for ourselves must makes us feel uncomfortable. If the standard you set for yourself allows you to feel comfortable, you must re-evaluate the bar you set for yourself. David Goggins

You become more attractive when you don’t need love. You become richer when you don’t need money. You become more convincing when you don’t need to impress. @orangebook_

If your reputation can’t absorb a few blows, it wasn’t worth anything in the first place. Ryan Holiday

The first thing that any education ought to give a man is character and the second thing is education. George Horace Lorimer

The pain and boredom we experience in the initial stage of learning a skill toughens our minds. Robert Greene (Mastery, Amazon book)

If, of course, your action is wrong, just don’t do it at all, but if it’s right, why be afraid of people whose criticism is off the mark? Epictetus

How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself? Epictetus

Part 2. Character Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Character Quotes (Goethe, Luther King Jr, Socrates, etc.)

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Men of few words are the best men. William Shakespeare

It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do. Jane Austen

A man with no enemies is a man with no character. Paul Newman

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

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Lao Tzu

You don’t need to take the last dollar. Charlie Munger

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

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King Jr

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King Jr

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character! Theodore Roosevelt

Most people say that it’s the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character. Albert Einstein

What such a man needs is not courage but nerve control, cool headedness. This he can only get by practice. Theodore Roosevelt

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. Maya Angelou

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

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

Only a man’s character is the real criterion of worth. Eleanor Roosevelt

If you wanna see the true character of person watch the way they treat someone who can’t do anything for them. Kanye West

Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Eckhart Tolle

The superior man is impassive: praise him or condemn him, he always carries. Napoleon Bonaparte

Man only succeeds in life by governing his character or by forging one. Napoleon Bonaparte

Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life. Epictetus (Enchiridion, Amazon book)

We cannot live better than in seeking to become better. Socrates

Short Character Quotes

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One-liners, short character quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.

Character is destiny. Heraclitus

A boy knows, a man does. Carlos Del Valle

Put your family in order. Jordan Peterson

Routine becomes character. Jack Butcher

The easily flattered are easily fooled. @TheStoicEmperor

Self-command is the main elegance. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Suffering is the true test of life. David Goggins

Character is what you are in the dark. Dwight L. Moody

Talent is a gift, but character is a choice. John C. Maxwell

Human reason grows rich by self-conquest. Publilius Syrus

Charisma attracts people to your life. Character is what makes them stay. Dan Go (Source)

Character is built when no one is looking. Carlos Del Valle

Character is the main object of education. Mary Wolley

Character is higher than intellect. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The weak choose easy. The strong choose hard. Maxime Lagacé

Discipline is the root of all good qualities. Jocko Wilink

We must not only put up with it, but love it. Marcus Aurelius

You can tell a lot about a man by his posture. @LifeMathMoney

You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jelly beans. Ronald Reagan

Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character. John Wooden

We’re either getting better or we’re getting worse. David Goggins (Can’t Hurt Me, Amazon book)

It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it. Seneca

The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune. Peter Nivio Zarlenga

Inspirational Character Quotes

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A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. James Allen (As a Man Thinketh, Amazon book)

An important part of who you are is what you want to be. Amy Kampert

Measure your true power by how generous you are with others. Measure your character by how calm you respond to external events. Maxime Lagacé

Not to be driven this way and that, but always behave with justice and see things as they are. Marcus Aurelius

Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece – by thought, choice, courage, and determination. H. Jackson Brown Jr

To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately. All other things, ruling, hoarding, building, are only little appendages and props, at most. Michel de Montaigne

In short term games, skills are more important than character. In long term games, character dominates. Johnny Uzan

From afar, we admire talent. Up close, what counts most is character. You can impress people with your skills, but you earn their trust by standing for something greater than yourself. Adam Grant (Source)

To live in a great idea means to treat the impossible as though it were possible. It is just the same with a strong character; and when an idea and a character meet, things arise which fill the world with wonder for thousands of years. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When your mind is not complaining and is responsible, courageous and confident; you become inexplicably beautiful. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Get out there and do what you’re supposed to do whether you feel like it or not. Jocko Willink

Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame. Jocko Willink (Extreme Ownership, Amazon book)

Slowing down is fine. Taking a step back is wise. Persevering is genius. Maxime Lagacé

The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. G.K. Chesterton

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

Choose as a guide one whom you will admire more when you see him act than when you hear him speak. Seneca

A man must become reconciled to his lot, must complain of it as little as possible, and must lay hold of whatever good it may had. Seneca

I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect. Hermann Hesse (Siddhartha, Amazon book)

Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear, and with a manly heart. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Without trials, manhood can never be built. Fateh Singh

The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Epictetus

It’s easy to have emotional control when everything is going well. It’s only during stormy seas that we see who are the real sailors. Ed Latimore (edlatimore.com)

The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul. David O. McKay

Scars fade with time. And the ones that never go away, well, they build character, maturity, caution. Erin McCarthy

Conclusion

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Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today may curse tomorrow and only one thing endures – character. Harry Truman

Further Readings

• Topic: Sadness And Hard Times
• 73 Sad Quotes To Bring Relief
• 89 Moving On Quotes To Bring Lightness Into Your Life
• 90 Hope Quotes That Will Nourish Your Soul
• 79 Positive Quotes To Uplift Yourself
• How to Develop Your Character (trans4mind.com)

Hope you enjoyed these great character quotes. If you did, please share them with a friend today!

Do you have character? What’s your favorite character quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.