Honor, Integrity and Character

There are 71 quotations in this topic:

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.

—John Quincy Adams

Where there is no shame, there is no honor.

—African Proverb

The good people sleep much better at night than the bad people. Of course, the bad people enjoy the waking hours much more.

—Woody Allen

Character is a victory, not a gift.

—Anonymous

If you are not leaning, no one will let you down.

—Robert Anthony
Think, Think On and Think Again

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.

—Isaac Asimov

The "what should be" never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is no "what should be," there is only what is.

—Lenny Bruce

A man's got to know his limitations.

—Harry Callahan
Clint Eastwood's character in Magnum Force, 1973

All honor's wounds are self-inflicted.

—Andrew Carnegie

After I'm dead I'd rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one.

—Cato the Elder

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.

—Edwin Hubbel Chapin

If you are standing upright, don't worry if your shadow is crooked.

—Chinese Proverb

Responsibility is the price of greatness.

—Sir Winston Churchill

Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.

—Henry Clay

Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.

—Bill Clinton, 26 Jul 2004
On Republican's charge that a Kerry administration would be weak on terrorists, Address at the Democratic Convention

There are two types of people—those who come into a room and say, "Well, here I am!" and those who come in and say, "Ah, there you are."

—Frederick L. Collins

Responsibility is the thing people dread most of all. Yet it is the one thing in the world that develops us, gives us manhood or womanhood fibre.

—Frank Crane

There are two kinds of men who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.

—Cyrus H. Curtis

The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better.

—John Dewey

Virtue does not always demand a heavy sacrifice—only the willingness to make it when necessary.

—Frederick Dunn

I am for integrity, if only because life is very short and truth is hard to come by.

—Kermit Eby

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-trust is the essence of heroism.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you accept your limitations you go beyond them.

—Brendan Francis

He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.

—Benjamin Franklin

Character is not made in a crisis—it is only exhibited.

—Robert Freeman

Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.

—Mahatma Gandhi

A "No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a "Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.

—Mahatma Gandhi

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

—André Gide

A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.

—Joseph Hall

There are men whom a happy disposition, a strong desire of glory and esteem, inspire with the same love for justice and virtue which men in general have for riches and honors....But the number of these men is so small that I only mention them in honor of humanity.

—Helvetius

What do you despise? By this are you truly known.

—Frank Herbert
Dune, 1965

What people say behind your back is your standing in the community.

—Edgar Watson Howe

There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.

—Elbert Hubbard

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.

—Washington Irving

One man with courage makes a majority.

—Andrew Jackson

No man was ever endowed with a right without being at the same time saddled with a responsibility.

—Gerald W. Johnson

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.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

—Ann Landers

Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended.

—François de La Rochefoucauld

I am prejudiced in favor of him who, without impudence, can ask boldly. He has faith in humanity, and faith in himself. No one who is not accustomed to giving grandly can ask nobly and with boldness.

—Johann Kaspar Lavater

The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.

—John Locke

Some persons are likeable in spite of their unswerving integrity.

—Don Marquis

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

—W. Somerset Maugham

Tolerance is another word for indifference.

—W. Somerset Maugham

You will be better advised to watch what we do instead of what we say.

—John N. Mitchell

Character is what you are in the dark.

—Dwight Moody

Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended.

—Old Folk Saying

Never violate the sacredness of your individual self-respect.

—Theodore Parker

It's ignorant to think you can judge a man's soul by looking at his face.

—Leonard Pitts, Jr., 13 Sep 2001
"Hatred is unworthy of us"
in Miami Herald

Calamity is the test of integrity.

—Samuel Richardson

The only way to get rid of responsibilities is to discharge them.

—Walter S. Robertson

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

—Eleanor Roosevelt

The censure of those who are opposed to us, is the highest commendation that can be given us.

—Seigneur de Saint-Evremond

It is easy to be tolerant of the principles of other people if you have none of your own.

—Herbert Samuel

Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.

—Arthur Schopenhauer
Parerga and Paralipomena, 1851

It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.

—George Bernard Shaw

...all men make mistakes. But a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.

—Sophocles

A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man.

—Jeremiah Springfield's Epitaph
on The Simpsons

Pain, or damage, don't end the world—or despair or f---in' beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you've got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man—and give some back.

—Al Swearengen
Ian McShane's character on Deadwood

Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent.

—Jonathan Swift

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

—Mark Twain

It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

—Mark Twain

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.

—Mark Twain
What Is Man?, 1906

To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.

—Mark Twain

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

—Voltaire

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

—George Washington

Periods of tranquility are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up.

—Alfred North Whitehead

The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.

—William Wordsworth