The strength of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts.

In so far as the mind is stronger than the body, so are the ills contracted by the mind more severe than those contracted by the body.

What my character is or how many jails I have lounged in, or wards or walls or wassails, how many lonely-heart poetry readings I have dodged, is beside the point. A man’s soul or lack of it will be evident with what he can carve upon a white sheet of paper.

Justice is truth in action.

Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.

We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.

Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

Suspicion is far more to be wrong than right; more often unjust than just. It is no friend to virtue, and always an enemy to happiness.

The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.

In the last analysis, even the best man is evil: in the last analysis, even the best woman is bad.

It’s really fun to put yourself into a character – into shoes you wouldn’t normally be in.

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.

From my perspective, I absolutely believe in a greater spiritual power, far greater than I am, from which I have derived strength in moments of sadness or fear. That’s what I believe, and it was very, very strong in the forest.

A man’s character is his fate.

Abortion isn’t a lesser evil, it’s a crime. Taking one life to save another, that’s what the Mafia does. It’s a crime. It’s an absolute evil.

The skin of my character in ‚The Man Who Fell to Earth‘ was some concoction, a spermatozoon of an alien nature that was obscene and weird-looking.

I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results.

Reverence for life affords me my fundamental principle of morality.

True virtue is life under the direction of reason.

Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.

Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing.

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

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

I want to represent… to the kids to draw strength from me. So they can see that everybody goes through something, but you can rise up and do your best. Just try.

Such is the feebleness of humanity, such is its perversity, that doubtless it is better for it to be subject to all possible superstitions, as long as they are not murderous, than to live without religion.

Desire of having is the sin of covetousness.

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

It is better to die than to preserve this life by incurring disgrace. The loss of life causes but a moment’s grief, but disgrace brings grief every day of one’s life.

We all gonna die eventually from something or other, but don’t be a wimp. Put up a good fight.

Every man’s reputation proceeds from those of his own household.

Let me tell you what I literally told every world leader I’ve met with, and I’ve met them all: It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against America. We have the finest fighting force in the world.

Blessedness is not the reward of virtue but virtue itself.

Honor and shame from no condition rise. Act well your part: there all the honor lies.

Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous.

It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.

There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‚Is it safe?‘ Expediency asks the question, ‚Is it politic?‘ And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‚Is it popular?‘ But Conscience asks the question, ‚Is it right?‘

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.

Virtue she finds too painful an endeavour, content to dwell in decencies for ever.

I make it a rule never to smoke while I’m sleeping.

Individuality is founded in feeling; and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making, and directly perceive how events happen, and how work is actually done.

Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.

Many a man’s strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use.

I think where political issues invade moral situations, spiritual leaders have to speak out.

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

I’m so tough and so bad, I can be humble and lift another guy up.

I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.

We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

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.

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.

Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.

The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that’s what’s happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal.

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.

Morality arose largely as an empirical defence of the individual and society. Ever since intelligent beings began to be in contact, and consequently in friction, they have felt the need to guard themselves against each other’s encroachments.

The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.

Of course, like anybody I repeat myself endlessly, but I don’t know that I’m doing it, usually.

I never really had the classic struggle. I had faith.

Temperance is a mean with regard to pleasures.