The effort really to see and really to represent is no idle business in face of the constant force that makes for muddlement. The great thing is indeed that the muddled state too is one of the very sharpest of the realities, that it also has color and form and character, has often in fact a broad and rich comicality.

She had her own way of doing all that she did, and this is the simplest description of a character which, although by no means without liberal motions, rarely succeeded in giving an impression of suavity.

What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?

“It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.” 

"When you make a choice and say, 'Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,' then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that ... when that moment comes, of course it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time."

“Politics ruins the character” 

“Character is simply habit long continued.” 

“My task is to find the authenticity in the character. I tend to go with the script and tell that story.”

“Whenever I do anything, even the most simple character, I need to twist it somehow, make it more challenging, in terms of psychology and storytelling. I can’t just do it straight.”

“A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.”

If then there is an invincible necessity, why do you resist?

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.

Remember this, that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.

Let it make no difference to you whether you are cold or warm, if you are doing your duty; and whether you are drowsy or satisfied with sleep; and whether ill-spoken of or praised; and whether dying or doing something else.

If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now.

Do not let your thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles that you may expect to befall you: but on every occasion ask yourself, “What is there in this that is intolerable and past bearing?” For you will be ashamed to confess.

To be the same in all circumstances – intense pain, the loss of a child, chronic illness. And to see clearly, from his example, that a man can show both strength and flexility.

That he respected tradition without needing to constantly congratulate himself for safeguarding our traditional values.

They saw him for what he was: a man tested by life, accomplished, unswayed by flattery, qualified to govern both himself and them. 

Compassion. Unwavering adherence to decisions, once he’d reached them. Indifference to superficial honors. Hard work. Persistence.

Consider at what price you sell your integrity; but please, for God’s sake, don’t sell it cheap.

If you want to be a man of honour and a man of your word, who is going to stop you? You say you don’t want to be obstructed or forced to do something against your will – well, who is going to force you to desire things that you don’t approve, or dislike something against your better judgement?

Remember, too, on every occasion that leads you to vexation to apply this principle: not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is good fortune.

It will even do to socialize with men of good character, in order to model your life on theirs, whether you choose someone living or someone from the past.