Quotes about Character

Often times a quotation seems to catch the very heart of a truth in a few words. Quotations have always interested me because they pierce thoughts like little darts aimed straight at the very heart of an idea. Today let me share some of these quotes about “character,” the moral fiber of us all. Hope they inspire you as they do me.

A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started. He is going to sit where you are sitting, and when you are gone, attend to those things which you think are important. You may adopt all the policies you please, but how they are carried out depends on him. He will assume control of your cities, states, and nations. He is going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities, corporations. The fate of humanity is in his hands. ABRAHAM LINCOLN

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of clothes I wore—but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. YMCA POSTER

We’ve got to work to save our children and do it with full respect for the fact that if we do not, no one else is going to do it. DOROTHY HEIGHT

What you are thunders so loudly that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Moral education is not a new idea. It is, in fact, as old as education itself. Down through history, in countries all over the world, education has had two great goals: to help young people become smart and to help them become good. THOMAS LICKONA

While there is much public concern with educational matters Such as pupil reading scores, the fact is that the available data disclosed that youth character disorders—as measured by matters such as increased suicide, homicide, and drug use are among youth of all races and classes—has become a more profound problem than the decline in formal learning. JAMES S. COLEMAN

In addition to the fact that Johnny still can’t read, we are now faced with the more serious problem that he can’t tell right from wrong. WILLIAM KILPATRICK

No man is free who is not master of himself. EPICTETUS

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong. WILLIAM J. H. BOETCKER

In my days we didn’t have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned. JANE HADDAM

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly. ARISTOTLE

What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. CONFUCIUS

When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Once you tell one lie, you need to create a whole bodyguard of lies to protect it. WINSTON CHURCHILL

What is right is right even if no one is doing it. What is wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. UNKNOWN

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. BEVERLY SILLS

It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded. ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH

A bad workman always blames his tools. PROVERB

The core problem facing our schools is a moral one. All the other problems derive from it. Even Academic reform depends on putting character first. WILLIAM KILPATRICK

Remember: Character is what you have left over if you ever go broke.

Strictly a personal view. Anthony Pellegrino writes every Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Pellegrino can be reached at tonypell@saipan.com