Top 100 Quotes About Moral Character
#1. A man's moral character may be completely sapped; that is the dreadful part of it.
Henrik Ibsen
#2. Telling the truth ... is not solely a matter of moral character; it is also a matter of correct appreciation of real situations and of serious reflection upon them.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
#3. High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments.
Christopher Hitchens
#4. Discipline is training that corrects and perfects our mental faculties or molds our moral character. Discipline is control gained by enforced obedience. It is the deliberate cultivation of inner order.
Charles R. Swindoll
#5. For it is not true, as some treatise-mongers lay down in their systems, of the probity of the speaker, that it contributes nothing to persuasion; but moral character nearly, I may say, carries with it the most sovereign efficacy in making credible.
Aristotle.
#6. For Aristotle, it's not enough simply to act in accordance with the reason once in a while. We must cultivate habits of virtue that develop into a firmly established moral character over a lifetime.
John Mark Reynolds
#7. The loss of these tastes [for poetry and music] is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature.
Charles Darwin
#8. Now the proofs furnished by the speech are of three kinds. The first depends upon the moral character of the speaker, the second upon putting the hearer into a certain frame of mind, the third upon the speech itself, in so far as it proves or seems to prove. [4]
Aristotle.
#9. Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow.
Elias Boudinot
#10. Up until the Depression, recession had a moral character: it was supposed to purge the body economic of the greed and excess that attends a business expansion.
James Buchan
#11. He then proceeded to shout at Alpha and Beta, a sign that he was in a genuine good mood. They took it as calmly as ever, in spite of the fact that he accused them of things I'm sure no donkey has ever willingly done, especially not Beta, who possessed impeccable moral character.
Patrick Rothfuss
#12. For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly.
Benjamin Franklin
#13. Faith in the hereafter is as necessary for the intellectual as the moral character; and to the man of letters, as well as to the Christian, the present forms but the slightest portion of his existence.
Robert Southey
#14. The Ten Commandments are just as valid today as they were when God gave them. They reflect the moral character of God, and they also provide the foundation of right living with others.
Billy Graham
#15. If you want to build a positive attitude, then associate with people of high moral character and read books that lead you to positive thinking.
Shiv Khera
#16. I never come back home with the same moral character I went out with; something or other becomes unsettled where I had achieved internal peace; some one or other of the things I had put to flight reappears on the scene.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
#17. Invite characters of surprising and moral character, or at least those who grapple with what is right or those who make decisions that shock.
David Bergen
#18. The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation, it is impossible they should be enslaved. . . .
David McCullough
#19. It is to be regretted that domestication has seriously deteriorated the moral character of the duck. In a wild state, he is a faithful husband ... but no sooner is he domesticated than he becomes polygamous, and makes nothing of owning ten or a dozen wives at a time.
Isabella Beeton
#20. Music has the power of producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it has the power to do this, it is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be educated in it.
Aristotle.
#21. The people in general ought to have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with authority either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches.
John Witherspoon
#22. Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding, and moral character that enables a person to inspire and control a group of people successfully.
John A. Lejeune
#23. I tend to think that good and evil exist and that the quantity in each of us is unchangeable. The moral character of people is set, fixed until death.
Michel Houellebecq
#24. What a man is: that is to say, personality, in the widest sense of the word; under which are included health, strength, beauty, temperament, moral character, intelligence, and education.
Arthur Schopenhauer
#25. The mere holding of slaves, therefore, is a condition having per se nothing of moral character in it, any more than the being a parent, or employer, or ruler.
Samuel Morse
#27. Fatal illness has always been viewed as a test of moral character, but in the nineteenth century there is a great reluctance to let anybody flunk the test.
Susan Sontag
#28. Moral character is assessed not by what a man knows but by what he loves
Augustine Of Hippo
#29. A good moral character is the first essential. It is highly important not only to be learned but to be virtuous.
George Washington
#30. Even men of the noblest possible moral character are extremely susceptible to the influence of the physical charms of others. Modern, no less then Ancient History, supplies us with many most painful examples of what I refer to. If it were not so, indeed, History would be quite unreadable.
Oscar Wilde
#31. So great is the effect of cleanliness upon man, that it extends even to his moral character. Virtue never dwelt long with filth; nor do I believe there ever was a person scrupulously: attentive to cleanliness, who was a consummate villain.
Benjamin Thompson
#32. I love sports. When I'm not playing, I'm watching, reading, or otherwise obsessing about them. This probably stems from growing up in Indiana, where if you didn't at least attempt to play basketball, you were considered of dubious moral character.
Mark Waters
#33. Again, Practical Wisdom and Excellence of the Moral character are very closely united; since the Principles of Practical Wisdom are in accordance with the Moral Virtues and these are right when they accord with Practical Wisdom.
Aristotle.
#35. Good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. We need a culture that supports the conditions under which self-love and friendship flourish.
Aristotle.
#36. Strong moral character results from consistent correct choices in the trials and testing of life. Your faith can guide you to those correct choices.
Richard G. Scott
#37. The moral character of the victim has nothing to do with it! A human being who has exercised the right of private judgment and taken the life of another human being is not safe to exist amongst the community.
Agatha Christie
#38. The good polis is made by the good person, his moral character intact, and the good polis, in turn, helps turn out good persons, their moral character intact.
Rebecca Goldstein
#39. As the excellence of steel is strength, and the excellence of art is beauty, so the excellence of mankind is moral character.
Aiden Wilson Tozer
#40. If physical power be the fountain of law, then law and force are synonymous terms. Or, perhaps, rather, law would be the result of a combination of will and force; of will, united with a physical power sufficient to compel obedience to it, but not necessarily having any moral character whatever.
Lysander Spooner
#41. As is well known, all collectors are prepared to steal or murder if it is a question of getting another piece for their collection; but this does not lower their moral character in the least.
Karel Capek
#42. I really do admire you a bit. You're an intelligent person of great moral character who has taken a very courageous stand. I'm an intelligent person with no moral character at all, so I'm in an ideal position to appreciate it. - Colonel Korn
Joseph Heller
#43. I'm not looking to be famous, but I want a body of work and a moral character that is deserving of fame.
Jonathan Tucker
#44. Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
Margaret Chase Smith
#45. The great variety of moral qualities attributed to God by Scripture revolves particularly around two - holiness and love. These may be said in summary form to constitute the moral character of God
Thomas C. Oden
#46. The State of Israel will prove itself not by material wealth, not by military might or technical achievement, but by its moral character and human values.
David Ben-Gurion
#47. You're an intelligent person of great moral character who has taken a very courageous stand. I'm an intelligent person with no moral character at all, so I'm in an ideal position to appreciate it.
Joseph Heller
#48. Unless the will is free, man has no freedom; and if he has no freedom he is not a moral agent, that is, he is incapable of moral action and also of moral character.
Charles Grandison Finney
#49. We don't usually think of what we eat as a matter of ethics. Stealing, lying, hurting people - these acts are obviously relevant to our moral character. In ancient Greece and Rome, ethical choices about food were considered at least as significant as ethical choices about sex.
Peter Singer
#50. It is a notable circumstance that mothers who are themselves open to severe comments as to their, moral character, are generally most solicitous as to the virtuous behavior of their daughters.
Antoine Rivarol
#51. It is fairly easy to grasp abstract moral principles; it can be very difficult to apply them to a given situation, particularly when it involves the moral character of another person..
Ayn Rand
#52. 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.
Aristotle.
#53. Humor is not an unconditional virtue; its moral character depends on its object. To laugh at the contemptible, is a virtue; to laugh at the good, is a hideous vice. Too often, humor is used as the camouflage of moral cowardice.
Ayn Rand
#54. Not only is [a mother] entrusted with the guardianship of the intellect and character of the world's statesmen and philosophers, but her gentle presence, as she bends over the cradle, and the silent influence of her daily life are shaping the entire moral character of the coming generation.
C.E. Sargent
#55. The ultimate foundation of honor is the conviction that moral character is unalterable: a single bad action implies that future actions of the same kind will, under similar circumstances, also be bad.
Arthur Schopenhauer
#56. All one needs to do is read - books, magazines, research the Internet - and pay attention to the influencers in their lives to discover the myriad people of strong moral character who have and still are making positive, meaningful contributions and differences in our world.
Zig Ziglar
#57. The lack of moral character is the number one problem in the black community today
Jesse Lee Peterson
#58. The witness of solid moral character to a righteous way of life must never be underestimated.
Arthur F. Holmes
#59. We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us.
John Locke
#60. The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor playing the hypocrite.
Marcus Aurelius
#61. Those who understand the gospel cannot possibly look down on anyone, since they were saved by sheer grace, not by their perfect doctrine or strong moral character.
Timothy Keller
#62. I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments.
Nathanael Emmons
#63. So far as regards their moral character, the Finns have as little cause for reproach as any other people.
Bayard Taylor
#64. The moral and intellectual character of the Africans is widely different in different nations.
Samuel George Morton
#65. In some ways, what I learned is that you can take a character and breathe with them, and it's up to the audience to interpret rather than you putting moral stamp on the character.
Aden Young
#66. Cooperation is a higher moral principle than competition.
Bryant McGill
#67. Our best moral stories don't tell us what is right or wrong in every situation, but they show us what one character did in one situation at one time. Readers, viewers, and listeners are supposed to extrapolate the moral meaning from the story. We're not supposed to have it handed to us.
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald
#68. [I]n speaking about someone's character, we do not say that he is wise or comprehending, but that he is gentle or moderate.
Aristotle.
#69. There is the moral spectrum in 'Fargo,' and you see it in other Coen brothers movies, where you have a very good character on one end and a very bad character on the other.
Noah Hawley
#70. Temptation yielded to is lust deified (My Utmost for His Highest, September 17 entry). Temptation comes in many forms, but it is always personal, uncannily tailor-made for our individual moral weakness, and it takes aim at God's character, seeking to ransack our faith.
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
#71. Character - We describe the character of a person in reference to moral judgments about the worthiness of a person. Thus, to have a strong, great or honorable character is to be a person of merit, worthy of admiration and honor.
Michael Josephson
#72. No one is born with good character; it's not a hereditary trait. And it isn't determined by a single noble act. Character is established by conscientious adherence to moral values, not by lofty rhetoric or good intentions.
Michael Josephson
#73. The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.
Leon Trotsky
#74. Voting in particular is an embarrassment, being a public display of weak character and low intelligence. Let us face the truth: Democracy, like spitting in public or the Roman games, is the proper activity of the lower intellectual and moral classes. It amounts to collusion in one's own suckering.
Fred Reed
#75. I like characters who are changed, often for the better, by the dark nature of their experiences. I also can become engaged by a character for whom I wish to see justice done, one way or the other. In general, I require a book to have some sort of moral center.
Thomas H. Cook
#76. Moral formation and the imitation of Christ are nothing new, even if their challenges must be taken up anew by each of us. The practices, disciplines, and virtues that shape good character have been part of the conversation in the Christian tradition for centuries.
David I. Smith
#77. These things were in my mind from the first moment I entered the vocal booth. The gratitude I had for rock and roll as it pulled me through a difficult adolescence. The joy I experienced when I danced. The moral power I gleaned in taking responsibility for one's action.
Patti Smith
Patti Smith
#78. Moral experience - the actual possession and exercise of good character - is necessary truly to understand moral principles and profitably to apply them.
Aristotle.
#79. Socialist writers are made of sterner stuff than those who only let their characters steeplechase through trouble in order to comeout first in the happy ending of moral uplift.
Christina Stead
#80. Theism, however, teaches that not only is there a moral universe but there is an absolute standard by which all moral judgments are measured. God himself-his character of goodness (holiness and love)-is the standard.
James W. Sire
#81. That said, nothing builds reader involvement more surely than a character whose moral struggle pervades the tale. When readers hope, beg, and plead with you to let a character turn toward the light, you have readers where you want them. A character who is good is good; a character
Donald Maass
#82. When people were conscious of a God whose character was moral law, when their consciences were informed by a sense of rightness, their watchmen would shout halt when they trespassed the law. Now their watchmen are silent. They serve no king and protect no kingdom.
James W. Sire
#83. National character cannot be built by law. It is the sum of the moral fiber of its individuals.
Herbert Hoover
#84. 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
#85. A person is said to have good character when their habits, dispositions and conduct reflect a deep commitment to ethical virtues and moral principles.
Michael Josephson
#86. Individuals create themselves through their moral choices. By freely and repeatedly choosing certain sorts of things, an individual shapes their character, and through their character their future.
Damien Keown
#87. We are born with a potential for good character - and for the dispositions and habits that make up bad or weak character. Because we are born in ignorance of moral ideals, however, we must be instructed or trained if we are to achieve a good second nature.
Edwin J. Delattre
#88. Home is the first and most important school of character. It is there that every human being receives his best moral training, or his worst; for it is there that he imbibes those principles of conduct which endure through manhood, and cease only with life.
Samuel Smiles
#89. Money is not good or evil. It has no morals or intentions on its own. Money reflects the character of the user.
Dave Ramsey
#90. Tanner: My dear Tavy, your pious English habit of regarding the world as a moral gymnasium built expressly to strengthen your character in leads you to think about your own confounded principles when you should be thinking about other people's necessities.
George Bernard Shaw
#91. Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.
Theodore Roosevelt
#92. In war the moral is to the material as three to one. Napoleon
George F. Will
#93. God's holiness is not an unloving holiness, and God's love is not an unholy love. It is only by keeping these two primary moral qualities of the divine being closely related that we may rightly behold the character of God. (p. 98)
Thomas C. Oden
#94. All the things that make the character of an individual great, comes from the moral values he or she possesses. Those are the things that give such an individual, strength, vision, integrity, courage and understanding of how to behave toward others.
Ellen J. Barrier
#95. When you look at all of the male characters on television and in film, it's not like every one of them are the people doing the right thing that you can point to as your own moral compass.
Ari Graynor
#96. The depth and strength of our character is defined by our moral code. People only reveal themselves when they're thrown out of the usual conditions of their lives. That's when the truth of who they are is revealed ...
Sherrilyn Kenyon
#97. More-radical scholars insist that an inherent clash exists between science and our long-held conceptions about consciousness and moral agency: if you accept that our brains are a myriad of smaller components, you must reject such notions as character, praise, blame, and free will.
Paul Bloom
#98. Civilization is first of all a moral thing. Without truth, respect for duty, love of neighbor, and virtue, everything is destroyed. The morality of a society is alone the basis of civilization.
Henri Frederic Amiel
#99. Nor does the idea of a moral order asserting itself against attack or want of conformity answer in full to our feelings regarding the tragic character.
Andrew Coyle Bradley
#100. As men get on in life, they acquire a love for sincerity, and somewhat less solicitude to be lulled or amused. In the progress ofthe character, there is an increasing faith in the moral sentiment, and a decreasing faith in propositions.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
