Top 200 Character Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.”

— Charles H. Spurgeon

Also featured in: Be Kind Quotes, Legacy Quotes, Reputation Quotes

2. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

— Maya Angelou

Also featured in: Positive Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Care Quotes, Emotional Quotes

3. “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

— H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Also featured in: Goal Quotes, Hard Work Quotes, Attitude Quotes, Friday Quotes for Work, Positive Motivation Quotes

4. “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”

— William Ernest Henley

Also featured in: Inspirational Quotes, Life Quotes, Goal Quotes, Confidence Quotes, Interesting Quotes

5. “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

Also featured in: Life Lessons Quotes, Wisdom Quotes, Wellness Wednesday Quotes, Quotes About Thinking

6. “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water, my friend.”

— Bruce Lee

Also featured in: Change Quotes, Action Quotes, Learning Quotes, Inspirational Life Quotes

7. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

— Billie Jean King

Also featured in: Success Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Perseverance Quotes, Persistence Quotes, Powerful Motivational Quotes

8. “Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.”

— Swami Vivekananda

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Hard Work Quotes, Work Ethic Quotes, Life Philosophy Quotes

9. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Also featured in: Courage Quotes, Life Quotes, Perseverance Quotes, Leadership Quotes

10. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

— Nelson Mandela

Also featured in: Positive Quotes, Courage Quotes, Perseverance Quotes, Quotes About Strength

11. “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.”

— Maya Angelou

Also featured in: Positive Quotes, Life Quotes, Quotes About Strength, Change Quotes

12. “I'll be back.”

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

Also featured in: Action Quotes, Famous Quotes, Short Quotes, Motivational Workout Quotes

13. “Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.”

— John C. Maxwell

Also featured in: Life Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Personal Development Quotes, Choices Quotes

14. “Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”

— Zig Ziglar

Also featured in: Short Positive Quotes, Powerful Motivational Quotes, Good Morning Motivational Quotes, Thursday Motivational Quotes

15. “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

— Alan Simpson

Also featured in: Integrity Quotes, Morality Quotes, Quotes for Better Decisions, Virtue Quotes

16. “Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life – all areas of life. The really good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.”

— Zig Ziglar

Also featured in: Motivational Quotes, Integrity Quotes, Short Quotes About Life, Life Lessons Quotes

17. “It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”

— Zig Ziglar

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Discipline Quotes, Motivational Monday Quotes, Motivational Quotes About Life

18. “People are interested by talent. God is impressed by character.”

— Rick Warren

Also featured in: Virtue Quotes

19. “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”

— Marcus Aurelius

Also featured in: Wisdom Quotes, Intelligent Quotes, Wise Quotes

20. “Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Also featured in: Education Quotes, Short Inspiring Quotes, Meaningful Quotes, Positive Motivational Quotes

21. “Life doesn’t reward the naturally clever or strong but those who can learn to fight and work hard and never quit.”

— Bear Grylls

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Strong Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Work, Inspirational Quotes for Work, Effort Quotes

22. “May the Force be with you.”

— George Lucas

Also featured in: Fiction Quotes, Space Quotes, Adventure Quotes, Hero Quotes

23. “Life is a series of experiences, each of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and griefs which we endure help us in our marching onward.”

— Henry Ford

Also featured in: Experience Quotes, Optimistic Quotes, Live Life Quotes, Growth Mindset Quotes

24. “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”

— John Wooden

Also featured in: Good Morning Inspirational Quotes, Good Morning Motivational Quotes, Achievement Quotes

25. “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

— William Shakespeare

Also featured in: Relationship Quotes, Quotes About Feelings, Love Is Quotes

26. “Be true to yourself. Make each day your masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.”

— John Wooden

Also featured in: Deep Quotes About Life, Interesting Quotes, Positive Inspirational Quotes, Live Life Quotes, Values Quotes

27. “Do the right thing because it is right.”

— Immanuel Kant

Also featured in: Integrity Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Powerful Quotes, Quotes for Better Decisions

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

— Maya Angelou

Also featured in: Courage Quotes, Morality Quotes, Being Strong Quotes

29. “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

— C.G. Jung

Also featured in: Action Quotes, Psychology Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Taking Action Quotes

30. “You carry on no matter what the obstacles are. You simply refuse to give up – and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win.”

— Vince Lombardi

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Never Give Up Quotes, Coaching Quotes, Winning Quotes

31. “Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.”

— Dennis Prager

Also featured in: Make A Difference Quotes, Be Kind Quotes, Sunday Morning Quotes, Human Nature Quotes

32. “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”

— Paulo Coelho

Also featured in: Love Quotes, Feel Good Quotes, Manifestation Quotes, Spirituality Quotes

33. “Our thoughts make us what we are.”

— Dale Carnegie

Also featured in: Short Inspirational Quotes, Personality Quotes, Inspirational Life Quotes, Life Lessons Quotes

34. “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.”

— J.A. Froude

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength

35. “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

— William Shakespeare

Also featured in: Famous Quotes, Meaningful Quotes, Philosophical Quotes

36. “All the world’s a stage.”

— William Shakespeare

Also featured in: Wisdom Quotes, Quality Quotes, Quotes About Acting

37. “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

— Leo Tolstoy

Also featured in: Change Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Responsibility Quotes

38. “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

— John Wooden

Also featured in: Integrity Quotes, Intelligent Quotes, Smart Quotes, Being Yourself Quotes

39. “He that can have patience can have what he will.”

— Benjamin Franklin

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Patience Quotes, Famous Quotes, Life Philosophy Quotes

40. “I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.”

— Marilyn Monroe

Also featured in: Love Quotes, Emotional Quotes, Quotes About Trying

41. “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

— J.K. Rowling

Also featured in: Positive Inspirational Quotes, Fiction Quotes, Personal Development Quotes, Choices Quotes, Quotes for Better Decisions

42. “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.”

— Confucius

Also featured in: Feel Good Quotes, Kindness Quotes, Teacher Quotes

43. “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Also featured in: Action Quotes, Positive Inspirational Quotes, Positive Life Quotes, Helping Others Quotes

44. “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.”

— Napoleon Hill

Also featured in: Persistence Quotes, Impact Quotes, Not Giving Up Quotes

45. “The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.”

— Swami Vivekananda

Also featured in: Happiness Quotes, Happy Quotes, Uplifting Quotes

46. “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Also featured in: Positive Quotes, Relationship Quotes, Friendship Quotes

47. “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.”

— Jane Austen

Also featured in: Action Quotes, Actions Speak Louder Than Words Quotes

48. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”

— Oprah Winfrey

Also featured in: Integrity Quotes, Inspirational Quotes for Women, Live Life Quotes, Empowering Quotes

49. “The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.”

— Swami Vivekananda

Also featured in: Confidence Quotes, Believe in Yourself Quotes, Short Inspiring Quotes, Short Inspirational Quotes

50. “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

— Aristotle

Also featured in: Relationship Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Philosophy Quotes