That should be considered long which can be decided but once.
Character Quotes
Anyone else on this page has about a third as many entries as Shakespeare. Next come Pope, Milton, James Russell Lowell and Goethe. The sentence worth reading in context is Emerson’s, from The American Scholar (1837): character is higher than intellect, and a great soul will be strong to live as well as strong to think.
Shaw, in Man and Superman (1903), is here for a remark about marriage and morality, which shows how loosely the page’s topic is applied.
Three entries are flagged. Two sayings credited to the Roman mime-writer Publilius Syrus, one about character deciding every man’s fortune and one about doing nothing at once both hastily and prudently, are disputed. A passage credited to Joseph Addison, about imperfection being what complains of the imperfect, is marked misattributed.
Forethought and prudence are the proper qualities of a leader.
He who obeys with modesty appears worthy of being some day a commander.
Hands, that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
High characters (cries one); and he would see
Things that ne'er were, nor are, nor ne'er will be.
Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed
A fairer spirit or more welcome shade.
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.