The Test Of Character Quotes & Sayings

We are all sorry when loss comes for us. The test of our character comes not in how many tears we shed but in how we act after those tears have dried. — Michelle Moran

The riches of the soul are stored up in its memory. this is the test of character, not whether a man follows the daily fashion, but whether the past is alive in his present. — Abraham Joshua Heschel

The test of a sword is not its polish but its temper — Elizabeth Moon

When school districts are measured by how much confidence, worth and hope their graduates have acquired while in school, when the role of education becomes more about nurturing students and a love for learning than standardized test scores, when the term "honor" student stands more for a child's character than than their grades, then schools will again take their role as a place for effective change in America. Until then education will continue to be run by paper chasing, pride driven central office administrators and educational bureaucrats trying to prove their worth to politicians who don't even know our kids. Let our teachers care, let our children thrive. Let our teachers teach. — Tom Krause

The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights. — Oswald Chambers

The question now is: Can we understand our stupidity? This is a test of intellect, not of character. — John K. Fairbank

If you give up, you champion the cause of the devil.If you stand the test, you align yourself with the character and will of God.Children of God never give up on a good cause! — Phanuel Muverengwi

And, for any performer, to be able to go deep into character is fantastic. In film you only get to do that if you're the leading character. But in television you get 18 hours to really test the audience and take them to the edge of how far they will go with this character. I can step over this line and I love that. — Cillian Murphy

The test of Christian character should be that a man is a joy-bearing agent to the world. — Henry Ward Beecher

The truest test of character is how we behave towards people who can do nothing for us. — James Runcie

There is no such test of a man's superiority of character as in the well-conducting of an unavoidable quarrel. — Henry Taylor

The acid test of our love for God is obedience to His Word. The greatest ability is dependability. The test of your character is what it takes to stop you. Trust God as if it all depends upon Him, and work as if it all depends upon you. — Bob Jones, Sr.

Christ desires nothing so much as to redeem His heritage from the dominion of Satan. But before we are delivered from Satan's power without, we must be delivered {175} from his power within. The Lord permits trials in order that we may be cleansed from earthliness, from selfishness, from harsh, unchristlike traits of character. He suffers the deep waters of affliction to go over our souls in order that we may know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, in order that we may have deep heart longings to be cleansed from defilement, and may come forth from the trial purer, holier, happier. Often we enter the furnace of trial with our souls darkened with selfishness; but if patient under the crucial test, we shall come forth reflecting the divine character. When His purpose in the affliction is accomplished, "He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." Ps. 37:6. — Ellen G. White

There is no telling what a human character is. Until the test comes. To most of us the test comes early in life. A man is confronted quite soon with the necessity to stand on his own feet, to face dangers and difficulties and to take his own line of dealing with them. It may be the straight way, it may be the crooked way
whichever it is, a man usually learns early just what he is made of. — Agatha Christie

Inner strength of character cannot be measured by any means but performance in the time of need. — K.L. Toth

Surely the test of a novel's characters is that you feel a strong interest in them and their affairs the good to be successful, the bad to suffer failure. Well, in John Ward, you feel no divided interest, no discriminating interest you want them all to land in hell together, and right away. — Mark Twain

If you would test the character of anything, you only need to enquire whether that thing leads you to God or away from God. — Watchman Nee

The test of character posed by the gentleness of God's approach to us is especially dangerous for those formed by the ideas that dominate our modern world. We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can be almost as stupid as a cabbage, as long as you doubt. The fashion of the age has identified mental sharpness with a pose, not with genuine intellectual method and character. Only a very hardy individualist or social rebel
or one desperate for another life
therefore stands any chance of discovering the substantiality of the spiritual life today. Today it is the skeptics who are the social conformists, though because of powerful intellectual propaganda they continue to enjoy thinking of themselves as wildly individualistic and unbearably bright. — Dallas Willard

The true test of character is to live win-win even when promoted to positions where win-lose is possible. — Orrin Woodward

Friendship is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we think, to be loyal to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins. — Charles Eastman

1939 and the children of Britain are on the move. David and Frankie, two boys from the East End of London, are thrown together by chance. Totally opposite in temperament an character, they form an unlikely friendship. This friendship is compromised by the presence of Elizabeth; who test their loyalties to the limit. — Terry Knowles

Because of the foundational importance of the New Testament, my analysis of its reliability consumed much of my two-year investigation into Christianity when I was a skeptic. I subjected the Gospels to eight tests they might face in a court of law - the intention test, the ability test, the character test, the consistency test, the bias test, the cover-up test, the corroboration test, and the adverse witness test - to determine whether they could be considered trustworthy.23 My verdict was that their essential reliability is beyond serious doubt. — Ravi Zacharias

The severest test of character is not so much the ability to keep a secret as it is, when the secret is finally out, to refrain from disclosing that you knew it all along. — Sydney J. Harris

Of course, no religious test for the presidency - every faith adds to our national character. — Benjamin Carson

The test of a mans character is not the mistakes he makes but the way he responds to them. — William Moyers

The test of character is not persistence when you expect a light at the end of the tunnel. The true test is performance and persistence when you see no light coming. — James Arthur Ray

My education, in other words, was a test of my willpower; and I accepted the challenge - to such an extent, indeed, that I think at some level of my teenage consciousness I truly believed that the whole point of going to school was to learn how to focus attention on subject matter that was of no consequence to me. The message I received at Clifton was: education is not primarily about understanding the world; its real purpose is character-building. As a corollary, I inferred that to study anything in which you had a real interest was, if not exactly cheating, certainly missing the point. — John Cleese

One interesting feature of criticism is seen in the ease with which it discovers what Addison called the specific quality of an author. In Livy, it will be the manner of telling the story; in Sallust, personal identification with the character; in Tacitus, the analysis of the deed into its motive. If the same test be applied to painters, it will find the prominent faculty of Correggio to be manifested in harmony of effect; of Poussin, in the sentiment of his landscapes; and of Raffaelle, in the general comprehension of his subject. — Robert Aris Willmott

If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there would be no evil-all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls. — Spencer W. Kimball

Someone once said anyone can be great under rosy circumstances, but the true test of character is measured by how well a person makes decisions during difficult times. — Jack Gantos

Self-mastery is a challenge for every individual. Only we can control our appetites and passions. Self-mastery cannot be bought by money or fame. It is the ultimate test of our character. It requires climbing out of the deep valleys of our lives and scaling our own Mount Everests. — James E. Faust

Our right or wrong use of money is the utmost test of character, as well as the root of happiness or misery, throughout our whole lives. — Dinah Maria Murlock Craik

The greatest test of a man's character is his tongue. — Oswald Chambers

Of course you cannot know a man completely,
his character, his principles, sense of judgment,
not till he's shown his colors, ruling the people,
making laws. Experience, there's the test. — Sophocles

They say that the test of a person's character is how he or she treats those less powerful than him or her. — Chetan Bhagat

The real test of character is how you treat someone who has no possibility of doing you any good. — George Orwell

Fatal illness has always been viewed as a test of moral character, but in the nineteenth century there is a great reluctance to let anybody flunk the test. — Susan Sontag

Sometimes knowing when to give up is the real test of character ...
-annabelle granger — Susan Elizabeth Phillips

The beach was hours away by bicycle, forbidden, completely out of all bounds. Going there risked expulsion, destroyed the studying I was going to do for an important test the next morning, blasted the reasonable amount of order I wanted to maintain in my life, and it also involved the kind of long, labored bicycle ride I hated. "All right," I said. We got our bikes and slipped away from Devon along a back road. Having invited me Finny now felt he had to keep me entertained. He told long, wild stories about his childhood; as I pumped panting up steep hills he glided along beside me, joking steadily. He analyzed my character, and he insisted on knowing what I disliked most about him ("You're too conventional," I said). — John Knowles

The test of your character is what it takes to stop you. — Bob Jones, Sr.

A famous preacher had a friend who was well known for his short temper. One day, at a party, he asked this friend to help him serve some drinks. The preacher himself poured the drinks, deliberately filling several of the glasses a bit too full. He then passed the tray to his friend. As they walked into the room to distribute the drinks, he accidentally-on-purpose bumped into the friend, causing the tray to jiggle and some of the drinks to slosh over the brim and spill. "There you are, you see," said the preacher. "When you're jolted, what spills out is whatever is filling you." When you're suddenly put to the test and don't have time to think about how you're coming across, your real nature will come out. That's why character needs to go all the way through: whatever fills you will spill out. And it's up to you to do something about it. — N. T. Wright

What is better adapted than the festive use of wine in the first place to test and in the second place to train the character of a man, if care be taken in the use of it? What is there cheaper or more innocent? — Plato

One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and, if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can't criticize it, because it is criticizing us. But I must give you one word of warning. When you sit down to it, don't be so ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or on the art of Kenneth Grahame. You are merely sitting in judgment on yourself. You may be worthy: I don't know, But it is you who are on trial. — A.A. Milne

Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this Nation. This difficult effort will be the moral equivalent of war, except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy. — Jimmy Carter

Quitting smoking can be a very good test of ones character. Pass the test and you will have accomplished so much more than just get rid of one bad habit — Abraham Maslow

The subject of a piece of writing has not suffered the tension and anxiety endured by the subject of the "Eichmann experiment" (as it has been called) - on the contrary, he has been on a sort of narcissist's holiday during the period of interviews - but when the moment of peripeteia comes, he is confronted with the same mortifying spectacle of himself flunking a test of character he did not know he was taking. — Janet Malcolm

The true test of a character is to face hard conditions with the determination to make them better. — Helen Keller

The ultimate test of a nation's character is not how it responds to adversity in war but how it meets the challenge of peace. — Richard M. Nixon

Confession: I don't want everybody to be beautiful, not in that unlined, creaseless, symmetrical way. Android beauty, like it comes out of a test tube. Beauty without blemish or mark. Not only do I not identify with such people, I don't believe in them either. I don't even find them attractive. This is what makes watching television so hard: they don't cast actors anymore, only models. When they make a movie of my life, they'd better cast a character actor in the lead. Don't try to tell me I'm not a character. — Lisa Samson

The test of real character is what a man does when he is tired. — Winston Churchill

We are all in this world together, and the only test of our character that matters is how we look after the least fortunate among us. How we look after each other, not how we look after ourselves. That's all that really matters, I think. — Tommy Douglas

A test of a Christian's character is what he does after he comes to the blockade in the road and what his attitude is after everything has left him except Jesus. You will never know down here that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have left. You will never be able to tell the world for sure that He will do in a crisis unless you learn how to live in a crisis. — Lester Roloff

I've always regarded it as a test of character to dislike the Kennedys. I don't really respect anyone who falls for Camelot. — Christopher Hitchens

There's no better way to test a person than to put them in the middle of a war. That's clearly going to show what kind of a character you're telling a story about. — Steven Spielberg

The Top Spin would raise a glass to Rudi Koertzen, the popular veteran South African umpire who will stand in his 107th and final Test when Pakistan meet Australia at Headingley in July [2010]. But we're slightly worried about being misunderstood. A few years back, in a light-hearted series of profiles of the elite umpires for a newspaper supplement, we suggested Rudi was a 'sociable' character who enjoyed spending a no-more-than-inordinate amount of time at the '19th hole'. Cue a concerned phonecall from the ICC, who wanted to register Rudi's displeasure at the implication. Whoops. Presumably it will be orange juices all round when he finally hangs up the white coat. — Lawrence Booth

Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. — Robert G. Ingersoll

The test of character is having the ability to meet challenges. — Walter Annenberg

The truest test of civilization, culture and dignity is character and not clothing. — Mahatma Gandhi

If you want to know the real character of man, intentionally and timely give him the test of 3d's; delay, denial and disappointment — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

...I would much rather my kids leave my class with the strength of character and courage to fight racism when they find it, than have memorized some facts about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I'm not saying you can't have both, I'm just pointing out that only one of those things will be measured on the test - and it isn't the most important one. — Dave Burgess

The real test of our character is when the bottom falls out. — LeCrae

No religion which is narrow and which cannot satisfy the test of reason, will survive the coming reconstruction of society in which the values will have changed and character, not possession of wealth, title or birth, will be the test of merit. — Mahatma Gandhi

Power is a test - the test - of character. — Evalyn Walsh McLean

The true test of a person's character is how they treat the people in life that they don't need. — Lee Corso

There is a story, always ahead of you. Barely existing. Only gradually do you attach yourself to it and feed it. You discover the carapace that will contain and test your character. You will find in this way the path of your life. — Michael Ondaatje

Real progress in the Christian life is not gauged by our knowledge of scripture, our church attendance, time in prayer, or even our witnessing (although it isn't less than these things) Maturity in the Christian life is measured by only one test: how much closer to his character have we become? the result of the Spirit's work is more not more activity. No, the results of his work are in in our quality of life, they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. — Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do. — John Holt

How would I behave in a situation that caused me to summon the essence of my character? The tragedy inspired me to test myself. I wanted to reveal to myself who I was: the kind of person who died, or the kind of person who overcame circumstances to help himself and others — Aron Ralston

I am thorough believer in the American test of character. He will not build high who does not build for himself. — Benjamin Harrison

If you want to test someone's character, give him respect. If he has good character, he will respect you more, if he has bad character, he will think is the best of all. — Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib

Competing at the highest level is the greatest test of one's character. — Russell Mark

Any of us can be happy and have a good attitude when everything is going our way. But I believe it's the real test of your character and of your faith to say, 'Things are not going our way, but I'm still being good to people; I'm still attending church; I still have a good attitude.' — Joel Osteen

I grumble at God and wonder if He loves me, just because things don't go right. If everything always went right I'd have no sympathy for those who suffered and I'd have no excuse for not being joyful all the time - but I bet I'd still grumble. This way it's a test of character and faith, to see how I react to disappointments, crying kids, sickness, disturbed nights, etc. — Emily T. Wierenga

True character stands the test of emergencies. Do not be mistaken, it is weakness from which the awakening is rude. — Napoleon Bonaparte

Puritans called marriage "the little church within the Church," a place to test and also develop spiritual character. Every day marriage calls both partners to love and forgive and stay faithful - hard work that only makes sense if we are convinced somehow that we are participating in a kind of alternate history, one set in eternity. I persevere in the difficult times in my marriage for the same reason I persevere in the difficult times in my faith: because I believe that both touch something of eternal significance. — Philip Yancey

The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching. — John Wooden

Did you notice that trials do not test our character, they test our faith? Faith is fundamentally a relational term - it is not first a matter of what you believe, but of whom you trust. The battle for our trust is as old as Adam and Eve. In the midst of battle, it can seem so complex, but when the dust settles and the smoke clears, the real war is always over the same question - whom will we believe? Whom will we listen to, God or the devil? — Kris Vallotton

The rituals surrounding vacations among Manhattan's wealthiest and best-connected citizens are strange and specific. By vacations I don't mean country houses, which are part of the regular ebb and flow of life and which are frequently subjects for complaint - The kids never want to go! The caretaker missed the roof leak! The pipes froze! - as though having a six-thousand-square-foot, cedar-shingled cottage on five acres overlooking the ocean is nothing more or less than a constant test of character. — Anna Quindlen

Fame is also a test of character at times ... Sometimes I pass the test; sometimes I'm a pain in the ass. Sometimes I'm like, Oh, God! I just want to buy some tampons! — Meg Ryan

We never ask for the bad that happens to us, but it happens. The true test of character is how we go on, what we take from it. — Michelle M. Pillow

Society, in fact, often holds it to be a virtue to adhere to certain beliefs in spite of evidence to the contrary. Belief in that which reason denies is associated with steadfastness and courage, while skepticism is often identified with cynicism and weak character. The more persuasive the evidence against a belief, the more virtuous it is deemed to persist in it. We honor faith. Faith can be a positive force, enabling people to persevere in the face of daunting odds, but the line between perseverance and fanaticism is perilously thin. Carried to extremes, faith becomes destructive - the residents of Jonestown for example, or the Heaven's Gate cult. In both cases, the faith of the believers was tested; in both cases, they passed the test. — Robert L. Park

There is no better test of character than when you're tossed into crisis. That's when we see one's true colors shine through. So I try my best to make my characters personally involved in the plot, in a way that stresses them and tests them. — Tess Gerritsen

Life is All About How you Handle Plan B
Plan A is always my first choice.
You know, the one where
Everything works out to be
Happily ever-after.
But more often than not,
I find myself dealing with
The upside-down, inside-out version
Where nothing goes as it should.
It's at this point that the real
Test of my character comes in..
Do I sink, or do I swim?
Do I wallow in self pity and play the victim,
Or simply shift gears
And make the best of the situation?
The choice is all mine ...
Life is all about how you handle Plan B. — Suzy Toronto

Fear brings out the best in some people and the worst in others. It's a test of character, for individuals and nations. — David Ignatius

Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character. — Margaret Chase Smith

The real test of character is whether you will do the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay. — Michael Josephson

The test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way. If it never surprises it is flat. Flat characters ... in their purest form ... are constructed round a single idea or quality; when there is more than one factor to them, we get the beginning of the curve toward the round. The really flat character can be experessed in one sentence such as, "I will never desert Mr Micawber." There is Mrs Micawber - she says she won't desert Mr Micawber; she doesn't, and there she is. — E. M. Forster

We live in an age fit for heroes. No time has ever offered such perils or prizes ... The test of this century will be whether man confuses the growth of wealth and power with the growth of spirit and character. — Vince Lombardi

For a Hero cannot triumph all the time. Sometimes he will be defeated, and how he faces that defeat is a test of his character. — Cressida Cowell

Sport strips away personality, letting the white bone of character shine through. Sport gives players an opportunity to know and test themselves. The great difference between sport and art is that sport, like a sonnet, forces beauty within its own system. Art, on the other hand, cyclically destroys boundaries and breaks free. — Rita Mae Brown

The test of friendship is its fidelity when every charm of fortune and environment has been spent away, and the bare, undraped character alone remains; if love still holds steadfast, and the joy of companionship survives in such an hour, the fellowship becomes a beautiful prophecy of immortality. — Hamilton Wright Mabie

To fall down is to face the weakness of my humanity, test the mettle of my character, and push the limits of my strength. Therefore, falling down will tell me who I am far more clearly than most things I might learn when I'm standing up. — Craig D. Lounsbrough

Have you ever gone to the furniture store to buy a chair without sitting in it? Have you ever purchased a car without test-driving it? Of course not, and God also tests us to reveal the quality of our faith. No matter what we think of ourselves, we find out what we are truly like in times of difficulty. Good times don't bring the worst out of us, but hard times do. That is why God says these difficult times are good for us. They allow us to see what is in our character that needs to be changed. They also give us opportunity to use our faith, and faith only grows through our using it. As we choose to learn to trust God instead of getting upset about something, we experience His faithfulness, which, in turn, increases our faith for the next time we need it. The more we use our muscles, the more they grow - and our faith is the same way. — Joyce Meyer

It's easy to be kind to friends who return your smiles and happily lend a helping hand. But the true test of good character is finding the will and desire to be kind and charitable to those who give us absolutely no motivation to do so. — Richelle E. Goodrich

Conduct is the grand test of character. Words are one great evidence of the condition of the heart. — J.C. Ryle

I think shrinks are interesting to write about because you get to see what the character chooses to reveal, and what behaviors or stances the character tries out on the shrink that might not be part of the character's make-up outside of that room. It's an emotional test-kitchen. — Jill Davis

To assess a nation through its economic data is a little like re-envisaging oneself via the results of a blood test, whereby the traditional markers of personality and character are set aside and it is made clear that one is at base, where it really counts, a creatinine level of 3.2, a lactate dehydrogenase of 927, a leukocyte (per field) of 2 and a C-reactive protein of 2.42. — Alain De Botton

A lot of actors are frustrated because they want to do things that are different and test themselves. Character actors are always looking for something the opposite of what they did. — Jason Statham

What is the true test of character unless it be its progressive development in the bustle and turmoil, in the action and reaction of daily life. — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Good habits are developed in the workshops of our daily lives. It is not in the great moments of test and trial that character is built. That is only when it is displayed. The habits that direct our lives and form our character are fashioned in the often uneventful, commonplace routine of life. — Delbert L. Stapley