Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties of like character which have originated in this government have been adjusted.
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.
Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
One strength of the communist system of the East is that it has some of the character of a religion and inspires the emotions of a religion.
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
If a man's character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business.
When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.'
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.
The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. We believe good men more fully and more readily than others: this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided.
What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.
