Quotes & Sayings About Building Good Character

No matter how good the walls and the materials are; if the foundations are not strong, the building will not stand. By and by, in some upper room, a crack will appear; and men will say: "There is the crack; but the cause is the foundation." So if, in youth, you lay the foundation of your character wrongly, the penalty will be sure to follow. The crack may be far down in old age, but somewhere it will certainly appear. — Henry Ward Beecher

My strength is character. I'm pretty good at building walking-talking humans with brains like beehives. — Christopher Bollen

lost a great innocence when I understood that I and my mind were not going to be on good terms for the rest of my life. I can't tell you how tired I am of character-building experiences. But I treasure this part of me; whoever loves me loves me with this in it. — Kay Redfield Jamison

Building character is like making bread - you have to mix it little by little, step by step, and moderate temperature is needed. You know yourself quite well, and you know how much temperature you need. You know exactly what you need. But if you get too excited, you will forget how much temperature is good for you, and you will lose your own way. This is very dangerous. — Shunryu Suzuki

I was the singing voice of a cartoon character. I did dog food commercials. I did a lot of commercials, actually, and helped pay my rent and my classes. Then I'd get one good line or two good scenes. I was building my career and building my own experience and learning technically what it was like to be on a set and all of those things. — Cheryl Ladd

When it comes to building character, wealth, good looks, athletic ability and even a high IQ are more likely to be impediments than advantages. — Michael Josephson

Sorel's basic character flaws had all cemented by the age of fifteen, a fact which further elicited my sympathy. To have all the building blocks of your life in place by that age was, by any standard, a tragedy. It was as good as sealing yourself into a dungeon. Walled in, with nowhere to go but your own doom.
Walls.
A world completely surrounded by walls. — Haruki Murakami

Adversity and hardship are the building stones of character. How can you appreciate good times and savor happiness if you have never dealt with ill fortune, discomfort and sorrow. It's like a child learning the difference between hot and cold. RW — Rob Wood

Choose to be good and kind and tolerant regardless of the situation or who's involved, because life is more a matter of developing character than of dishing out just rewards. — Richelle E. Goodrich

Charity should be self-sustainable. That is, it should create more wealth rather than perpetuating the cycle of poverty and dependence. In this sense, the best form of charity would be providing quality education for children and more importantly, building a good character in them. — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Humility is as good for the soul as it is for the memory — Patricia C. Wrede

It is an awful, just sickening feeling, I discovered, to live with somebody, to exist in the midst of sharing a life, only to realize it is utterly doomed. It was botulism of the soul. I'd had such ambition for building a life together, because I wanted that strength of character and security. But I had overlooked the most important thing: he wasn't right for me. I wasn't right for him. Merely wanting us to be right and good together wasn't enough. — Augusten Burroughs

The real training is building character for a good conduct. — Lailah Gifty Akita

It is our job as parents, to instill principles and values in our children. So that when they depart from you, those principles and values won't depart from them. Mallory Bullard, a street soldier from the old school. — Drexel Deal

To every bad there's a good and to every good there's a bad. And both are pertinent to the lessons of life, and the building of your character or individuality. — Aloy Ricketts

In character-building and in living the Christian life, concentration is important. The [person] who has a general interest in everything usually isn't too good at anything. — Billy Graham

I feel there is something almost sacred about building a boat ... It is almost like creating a living being, a boat seems to have a soul and character all her own ... It requires more thought to give a boat a good name than it does a child. — John Guzzwell

We sometimes hurt those we love because they need to be "taught a lesson," when we really want to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention. This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living. An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek. — Alcoholics Anonymous