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.
So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,
So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure.
No, when the fight begins within himself,
A man's worth something.
It is in general more profitable to reckon up our defects than to boast of our attainments.
Worth, courage, honor, these indeed
Your sustenance and birthright are.
The hearts that dare are quick to feel;
The hands that wound are soft to heal.
In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.
Maintain your post: That's all the fame you need;
For 'tis impossible you should proceed.
All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do, and we will be obedient.