A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.

Shame may restrain what law does not prohibit.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.

No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor.

Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something.

The way I talk is bizarre.

I don’t think you get successful to brag and throw what you have in the world’s face. That’s all private.

Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety.

Show me the man you honor, and I will know what kind of man you are.

For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly.

The sensitivity of men to small matters, and their indifference to great ones, indicates a strange inversion.

Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing.

I didn’t do anything at the Queen, whom I admire.

If you’re put on a pedestal, you’re supposed to behave yourself like a pedestal type of person. Pedestals actually have a limited circumference. Not much room to move around.

Motives reveal why we do what we do, which is actually more important to God than what we’re doing.

A creep is someone who claims he’s one thing but he’s actually another.

If the tongue had not been framed for articulation, man would still be a beast in the forest.

Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world.

Personal columnists are jackals and no jackal has been known to live on grass once he had learned about meat – no matter who killed the meat for him.

Rigid, the skeleton of habit alone upholds the human frame.

Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it.

Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil.

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

My choices, including those related to the day-to-day aspects of life, like the use of a modest car, are related to a spiritual discernment that responds to a need that arises from looking at things, at people and from reading the signs of the times. Discernment in the Lord guides me in my way of governing.

My mother was a very natural woman. She never spoiled herself, never wore make-up, and wore modest jewellery, but she always had a few special items for when she wanted to feel like a lady. One of those special items – and I remember it because it seemed so elegant – was her Guerlain powder.

I have a slight bit of OCD, I think. I’m not walking around flipping light switches. But when I say I’m going to do something, I have to do it.

I never get too high on my stardom or what I can do.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.

You can’t talk your way out of problems you behave yourself into.

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.

I’m quite a chauvinistic person.

Modesty is a learned affectation. And as soon as life slams the modest person against the wall, that modesty drops.

Places I’ve lived since then had to have some kind of uniqueness and character about them. And logically Key West, and then Down Island. So, all of that stuff sort of had it’s roots in New Orleans and went crazy.

The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision.

Have you ever watched a crab on the shore crawling backward in search of the Atlantic Ocean, and missing? That’s the way the mind of man operates.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

Mind your speech a little lest you should mar your fortunes.

Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.

A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.

Virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us in all that we do.

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything.

I love Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove – there is so much life and vitality around Portobello and Ladbroke Grove. It has come up a lot since I started Virgin more than 40 years ago, but there is so much character.

I can promise you that when I go to Sacramento, I will pump up Sacramento.

There are some loony people in this world!

Character is determined more by the lack of certain experiences than by those one has had.

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.

I don’t like freeloaders; I don’t like people who are negative.

Behold, at this hour our moral history is being preserved for eternity. Processes are at work which will perpetuate our every act and word and thought.

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

My name can’t be that tough to pronounce!

Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions.

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.

People don’t want to hear about me having leather walls or gold toilets.

Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.

I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don’t trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.

If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite.

I deserve respect for the things I did not do.