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.

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.

Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.

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

When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

No matter how hard we might wish, we will not be able to transform China’s behavior overnight.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.

He does it with better grace, but I do it more natural.

It is in the treatment of trifles that a person shows what they are.

There is no greater index of character so sure as the voice.

Humanity I love you because when you’re hard up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink.

The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image.

A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.

The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty. And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too.

It’s important for me to let my fans know I really don’t care. I’m confident.

There is a soak-the-rich attitude in the air, a feeling that if you have a lot of money you must have got it by some ghastly means. I can quite happily say there was never any family money. All the money we got was mine, just from writing books.

Fine manners need the support of fine manners in others.

When the dog looks at you, the dog is not thinking what kind of a person you are. The dog is not judging you.

A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

At fifty everyone has the face he deserves.

I get impatient with people working on a film that have their head in their hands like it’s the most complicated thing in the world.

Hope is favorable and confident expectation; it’s an expectant attitude that something good is going to happen and things will work out, no matter what situation we’re facing.

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.

He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‚Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

Don’t tell your problems to people: eighty percent don’t care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.

My concern today is not with the length of a person’s hair but with his conduct.

Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life – in firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as to talk; and to make our words and actions all of a color.

I’ve learned people are watching, so don’t do nothing stupid.

All the screen cowboys behaved like real gentlemen. They didn’t drink, they didn’t smoke. When they knocked the bad guy down, they always stood with their fists up, waiting for the heavy to get back on his feet. I decided I was going to drag the bad guy to his feet and keep hitting him.

Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.

Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes.

People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.

Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.

Reproach is shame, blame, disgrace, disapproval and a disrespectful attitude toward yourself. When you’re under reproach, your behavior shows it.

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.

Some mystery should be left in the revelation of character in a play, just as a great deal of mystery is always left in the revelation of character in life, even in one’s own character to himself.

It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent.

Life is about conduct and how we conduct ourselves. But two wrongs never make a right.

Sometimes, wearing a scarf and a polo coat and no makeup and with a certain attitude of walking, I go shopping or just look at people living. But then, you know, there will be a few teenagers who are kind of sharp, and they’ll say, ‚Hey, just a minute. You know who I think that is?‘ And they’ll start tailing me. And I don’t mind.

There must be something solemn, serious, and tender about any attitude which we denominate religious. If glad, it must not grin or snicker; if sad, it must not scream or curse.

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

I believe that a trusting attitude and a patient attitude go hand in hand. You see, when you let go and learn to trust God, it releases joy in your life. And when you trust God, you’re able to be more patient. Patience is not just about waiting for something… it’s about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting.

There is an orderliness in the universe, there is an unalterable law governing everything and every being that exists or lives. It is no blind law; for no blind law can govern the conduct of living beings.

The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.

Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.

Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation’s promise through civility, courage, compassion and character.

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

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

I never go into a situation with any type of expectations.

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

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.

Many a man’s reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.

Yeah, it’s pretty hard not to be completely cynical these days.

Ritual is another word for fear, manifested in a different way.

Character is expressed through our behavior patterns, or natural responses to things.