Character quotes — Page 2

Cooper Union Address, February 27, 1860, closing passage. Lincoln is defending Republican opposition to the extension of slavery into federal territories; the line retains that antislavery political context.

Lyceum Address, January 27, 1838. Lincoln is discussing mob violence, disregard for law and the preservation of republican institutions; the sentence is not a generic prediction about national collapse.

An Epistle from Mr. Pope to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735 first-edition scan), printed page 15 / scan leaf 21, lines 292–293. “A Lash like mine no honest man shall dread” states Pope’s own defence of satire immediately before the attack on “Paris” / Lord Hervey. The first edition capitalizes “Lash”; the frozen catalog lowercase is normalized orthography.

The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, line 34 in Pope’s 1717 revision; final line of Clarissa’s added speech. The inherited 1714 source year is corrected to 1717; the narrator immediately notes that the audience gives her no applause, keeping the maxim inside its mock-heroic dramatic setting.

The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, lines 15–16 in Pope’s 1717 revision; spoken by Clarissa. Her moralizing speech (Canto V lines 7–36) was added in 1717, so the inherited 1714 source year is corrected to 1717. The reviewed evidence opens the 1717 Canto V scan start; the exact couplet is independently preserved in the complete final-form text.

The Black Tulip, Chapter VIII, “An Invasion,” Project Gutenberg #965. Exact-witness review corrects the inherited Chapter VI locator: the narrator says that evil minds soon grow familiar with evil thoughts immediately after Boxtel first shrinks from informing against Van Baerle and before he rationalizes the act.

Oenone, in The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg #8601. Pallas speaks the lines while arguing that self-reverence, self-knowledge and self-control lead to a life governed by right rather than by reward; this is poetic character speech, not a prose maxim detached from the poem.

Black Beauty, Part I, Chapter 3, “My Breaking In,” Project Gutenberg #271. Black Beauty’s mother advises him to do his best and keep his good name after warning that horses may pass into kind, careless or cruel human hands. The equine narrator and animal-welfare context remain explicit.

Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII, Chapter III, Project Gutenberg #8438. Aristotle has just argued that people must become mutually known and prove themselves fit objects of friendship before the relationship is complete.

Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, Chapter VI; the public-domain English translation defines virtue through deliberate choice and the relative mean.

Timber, or Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter, represented by Project Gutenberg #5134. Jonson follows the sentence with his refusal to have readers defend a position merely because it is his; the aphorism belongs to a direct prose reflection on independent judgment and truth.

Volpone, Act I, Scene 1, Project Gutenberg #4039. Volpone opens the comedy by greeting his gold as a saint while Mosca reveals the hoard; the religious imagery establishes his avarice. It is fictional dramatic speech, not Ben Jonson autobiography, financial advice or a literal religious claim.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part II, Humility discussion near the close of the Passy 1784 continuation. Franklin reflects that pride survives attempts to suppress it and can attach itself even to apparent humility; the reviewed direct locator is Wikisource Section Thirty Nine.

The Morals of Chess; Founders Online authoritative Franklin Papers text. The wording begins mid-sentence after Franklin’s condition that the game is not being played rigorously; source context is preserved here.

The Way to Wealth, debt-and-credit section; Project Gutenberg #43855. This is eighteenth-century moral rhetoric and should not be read as a judgment that indebted people are inherently dishonest.

The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal, C. Kegan Paul translation, Project Gutenberg #46921. The next sentence extends the paradox by observing how difficult it is to speak humbly about humility.

Character Building, “What Is To Be Our Future?”, Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington asks whether Tuskegee will remain worthy of public confidence and answers by requiring each student and worker to put conscience and full effort into every kind of work.

Character Building, “The Importance of Being Reliable,” Project Gutenberg #60484. The race language belongs to Washington’s historical response to discriminatory judgments and employment conditions.

Character Building, “Each One His Part,” Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington asks whether Tuskegee can educate an individual conscience that performs small duties thoroughly even when no audience is watching; the question closes that address’s argument about conscientious responsibility.

Up from Slavery, Chapter III, “The Struggle For An Education,” Project Gutenberg #2376. Washington describes General Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s influence at Hampton and argues that sustained contact with exemplary people can itself be a powerful form of education.

Working With the Hands, Chapter I; Project Gutenberg #64504. This is an autobiographical fragment whose surrounding paragraph describes repeated attempts before improvement.

The Jewel of Seven Stars, Project Gutenberg #3781. Mr Corbeck recounts Mr Trelawny’s behavior after his wife’s death. This is fictional characterization, not mental-health advice that work is the best response to grief.

The Simple Life, Chapter IV, “Simplicity of Speech,” Mary Louise Hendee translation, Project Gutenberg #23092; Wagner contrasts honorable speech with duplicity.

Shirley; narrative reflection in a novel rather than direct personal testimony. The image of inner brightness is literary metaphor and is retained as such.

The Professor; fictional narration describing Frances Henri. The elevated phrasing belongs to the novel’s characterization and is not presented as a context-free statement of Brontë’s own life.

The Analects of Confucius, James Legge’s public-domain English translation; Book XV contrasts inward self-examination with dependence on others.

The Analects of Confucius, Book VII, Chapter XXXVI, James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg #3330.

John Halifax, Gentleman, represented by Project Gutenberg #2351. The phrase belongs to the first-person narrator Phineas Fletcher while describing the river; it is a literary simile inside the novel, not direct autobiography by Craik.

Cranford, Project Gutenberg #394. Martha says the line during a comic but affectionate refusal to leave Miss Matty after financial trouble; it is character dialogue, not Gaskell’s definition of reason.

Self-Made Men lecture, commonly dated to 1872 in edited versions. The compact statement occurs within an argument that values self-dependence while the lecture’s opening explicitly denies that anyone is literally or completely self-made; Library of Congress manuscript materials anchor the source identity and preserve later versions.

Beyond Good and Evil, section 287, Helen Zimmern public-domain translation, Project Gutenberg #4363. The represented witness prints “THE NOBLE SOUL HAS REVERENCE FOR ITSELF” in capitals; the frozen catalog keeps ordinary capitalization. Nietzsche’s claim belongs to his rank / nobility argument and is not an evidence-based rule of self-esteem.

The Diary of a Nobody, Chapter I, April 6 entry; Project Gutenberg #1026. Pooter reports Borset the butterman’s sarcastic response after Pooter says that a City clerk can be a gentleman: Borset is glad to hear it and asks whether Pooter has ever met one. The retained line is reported fictional dialogue by Borset inside Pooter’s diary, not a statement by either Grossmith author.

At the Back of the North Wind; Project Gutenberg #225. Spoken by the fictional child Diamond to North Wind, so the page preserves speaker and fantasy context rather than presenting it as direct memoir.

Phantastes; Project Gutenberg #325. The sentence is spoken by the fictional first-person narrator while preparing for danger and should remain tied to that fantasy context.

Unspoken Sermons; Project Gutenberg #9057. The short excerpt comes from a longer explicitly theological hierarchy of forms of life and must be read in that religious setting.

Civil Disobedience, first printed in 1849 as “Resistance to Civil Government”; represented Wikisource text. The surrounding paragraph asks whether citizens should resign conscience to legislators.

Civil Disobedience, first published in 1849 as 'Resistance to Civil Government'; reviewed in the public-domain Miscellanies transcription. The obligation-to-do-right sentence occurs early in Thoreau's argument contrasting conscience with automatic deference to majority rule and law. It remains historical political philosophy rather than current legal advice or a blanket instruction to violate law.

Life Without Principle, first published posthumously in The Atlantic Monthly in October 1863; represented Wikisource text. It derives from Thoreau’s lecture “What Shall It Profit?” and is social criticism, not hiring research.

Life Without Principle, The Atlantic Monthly, 1863; represented Wikisource text. The line follows Thoreau’s claim that a community cannot buy a wise person away from work that genuinely occupies him.

Joseph Andrews, Book I, Chapter I, Project Gutenberg #9611. Fielding opens his narrator’s discussion of exemplary lives by observing that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts, then develops the claim through imitation and the moral purpose he assigns to writing. It is eighteenth-century literary argument, not a modern experimental finding about learning.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, concluding authorial reflection, Project Gutenberg #6593. Fielding explains one of the novel’s stated moral aims: prudence can protect virtue from traps that deceit and indiscretion create.

James 1:20 in the King James Version, immediately following the instruction to be slow to wrath.

James 4:6 in the King James Version.

All These Things Added (1903), Part II, “The Heavenly Life,” chapter “Perfect Freedom,” printed page 140 / Wikisource scan leaf 146. “The tree of Freedom is rooted in Duty” introduces Allen’s claim that willing duty belongs to the inward freedom he is describing. The retained context is explicitly religious and moral rather than a universal clinical, legal or political rule.

All These Things Added (1903), Part II, “The Heavenly Life,” chapter “Perfect Freedom,” printed page 139 / Wikisource scan leaf 145. “Freedom resides in individual self-conquest” appears in Allen’s contrast between outward agitation and the inward emancipation he associates with mastery of passion, error and ignorance; this remains his spiritual-moral conception of freedom, not a modern political definition.

As a Man Thinketh, chapter “Effect of Thought on Circumstances.”

Emma, Volume II, Chapter XIII, scan-backed 1816 John Murray first edition on Wikisource. This corrects the inherited Volume III note: Emma says to herself that there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart after Harriet’s gratitude and affection move her to reassess Harriet’s character.

Emma, Volume II, Chapter VIII, scan-backed 1816 John Murray first edition on Wikisource. After Frank Churchill returns from an impulsive haircut, Emma “moralised to herself” that silly things can cease to seem silly when sensible people do them impudently. This is Emma Woodhouse’s ironic private judgment inside the novel, not Austen endorsing impudence as a general rule.

Mary Crawford makes the remark while discussing motives and conduct in company.

Three Men in a Boat, packing episode; the narrator describes Montmorency repeatedly inserting himself into whatever the men are trying to pack.

Three Men in a Boat, packing episode; the narrator rejects Harris’s claim that he encourages Montmorency’s disruptive behavior.

Matthew 23:12 in the King James Version.

Paradise Lost (1667), Book I, line 263; Satan says he would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. This collection retains normalized modern orthography; the first-edition transcription has ‘then’ and ‘Heav’n.’ This is dramatic character speech, not Milton’s direct endorsement.

Modern Painters, Volume III, Part IV, Chapter XVI, “Of Modern Landscape,” section 24, printed page 260, Project Gutenberg #38923. Ruskin calls humility the first test of a truly great man, then immediately distinguishes humility from doubting one’s real power or hesitating about one’s opinions; his point is proportion, not self-denial. This is Victorian art criticism and moral reflection, not modern clinical or psychological evidence about humility.

Modern Painters, Volume III, Part IV, Chapter III, “Of the Real Nature of Greatness of Style,” section 3, printed page 26, Project Gutenberg #38923. Ruskin contrasts pursuing art to become a “great man” or attract admiration with honest reverence for art and self-respect in its practice, which he says can rescue art from dilettantism and fit it for service. This is nineteenth-century art-critical / vocational argument, not a modern organizational or occupational-health rule.

The Ethics of the Dust, Lecture IV, Project Gutenberg #4701. Ruskin immediately contrasts many persevering people with the rarer patient person and later insists that genuine patience is not necessarily passive or idle.

2 Corinthians 8:21 in the King James Version.

Proverbs 11:2 in the King James Version.

Proverbs 12:22 in the King James Version.

Proverbs 16:8 in the King James Version.

Jo's Boys, Chapter 4, Project Gutenberg #3499. Mrs Jo is speaking to Dan about his mother's effort to protect him from harmful influences.

Jo's Boys, Chapter 4, Project Gutenberg #3499. Mrs Jo is discussing parental guidance; the excerpt stops before the longer sentence develops self-knowledge and self-control.

Little Men; Jo reflects on the responsibility of guiding a difficult boy and measures success by the person he may become rather than by convenience.

Meditations, Book XII, in George Long’s translation.

Meditations, Book VI, in George Long’s translation.

The Montessori Method, “Discipline,” Anne E. George translation. Montessori calls this “active discipline” and contrasts it with older coercion to immobility; terminology reflects the educational theory of her period.

Pudd’nhead Wilson, Chapter V epigraph, introduced as a remark concerning upstarts in the Calendar sequence.

Pudd’nhead Wilson, Chapter VI epigraph; a Calendar maxim preceding the chapter.

Pudd’nhead Wilson, Chapter VII epigraph; the cat-and-lie comparison is one of the Calendar aphorisms.

Pudd’nhead Wilson, Calendar epigraph before the oyster-habits joke.

An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, Project Gutenberg #68724. Wollstonecraft connects “Respect thyself” with religion, justice and self-love while criticizing social arrangements that encourage people to sacrifice truthful character for status.

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787), “The TEMPER,” printed page 62, Project Gutenberg #67466. Wollstonecraft calls governing the temper the business of the whole life while discussing habits of self-command and conduct; the passage is moral-educational argument rather than clinical emotion-regulation advice.

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787), “MORAL DISCIPLINE,” printed page 20, Project Gutenberg #67466. Wollstonecraft says parents should preserve children from wrong impressions while discussing early prejudices and habits; this is eighteenth-century child-rearing argument rather than current developmental or clinical guidance.

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787), “THE BENEFITS WHICH ARISE FROM DISAPPOINTMENTS,” printed page 111, Project Gutenberg #67466. Wollstonecraft says reflection forms habits and fixes principles while opening a religious-moral discussion of disappointment, self-examination and character.

Architects of Fate; Project Gutenberg #21622. The sentence occurs in a passage criticizing narrow material measures of a life.

How to Succeed, “Hold Up Your Head”; Marden follows a Lincoln anecdote by arguing that self-respect depends on deserving one’s own approval.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890 Lippincott magazine text, Chapter 2; Lord Henry states the temptation paradox while influencing Dorian in Basil Hallward’s garden.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891 edition, Chapter 1; Lord Henry tells Basil that he likes persons better than principles and extends the joke to people with no principles.

Elements of Morals, Chapter XIV, section 165, printed page 296, Caroline Rollin Corson’s 1884 English translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. “Remember that thou art a man and do not degrade thyself: this is self-respect” appears in the same paragraph as Janet’s paired reminder against vain pride, making self-respect and humility complementary parts of his moral argument rather than generic affirmation copy.

Elements of Morals, Chapter XIV, section 165, printed page 296, Caroline Rollin Corson’s 1884 English translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. Janet distinguishes humility from abasement: humility arises from recognition of human weakness, but lowering oneself is not itself a virtue. The passage belongs to nineteenth-century systematic moral philosophy rather than modern clinical self-esteem guidance.

Crito, Benjamin Jowett translation; Socrates is testing the moral premises that will govern his decision about escaping prison.

Laws, Book I, Benjamin Jowett English translation. The Athenian Stranger says this while explaining why childhood play and practical imitation should prepare future capacities; it is a program of civic upbringing, not a present-day evidence-based educational standard.

Laws, Book VII, Benjamin Jowett English translation. The Athenian Stranger asks Cleinias this question as they begin discussing how children should be raised; it is dialogue, not a detached modern prescription for health or schooling.

Laws, Book II, Benjamin Jowett English translation. The Athenian Stranger opens a longer definition linking early instincts and pleasure or pain with later rational understanding; this quotation preserves the opening clause and its original semicolon.

Laws, Book IX, the Athenian Stranger replying to Cleinias while designing criminal laws for an imagined city. Benjamin Jowett English translation, Project Gutenberg #1750. This is the concluding clause of a longer first-person definition that begins “And now I can define to you clearly”; preserving it as an extract does not make it a remark by Socrates (who is absent from Laws).

Plato, Lysis, approximately 219c–d, Socrates speaking with Lysis and Menexenus; Benjamin Jowett English, Project Gutenberg #1579. The sentence follows a chain of examples of things desired for other things, and Socrates soon reopens the argument by asking whether friendship depends on evil. It is a provisional dialectical step, not a conclusive formula offered by Plato.

Plato, Lysis, around 211e–212a (opening inquiry into friendship), Socrates addressing Menexenus; Benjamin Jowett English, Project Gutenberg #1579, dramatic text after Menexenus rejoins the discussion. Gold of Darius is a historical royal-wealth comparison and Socrates goes on to question what it means to be a friend. Do not attribute this speech to Plato as personal autobiography.

The Republic, Book IV in Benjamin Jowett’s translation; the line appears during discussion of education and civic character.

Plato, The Republic, Book IV, approximately 441e–442a; Socrates addressing Glaucon while contrasting the rational, spirited and appetitive parts of the soul. Exact sentence from Benjamin Jowett English, Project Gutenberg #1497, Book IV main dialogue (not introductory editorial matter). The premise belongs to an ancient account of the soul and remains open to philosophical interpretation; not clinical or neuroscientific evidence.

The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 5, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.

The Seaman's Friend, represented by Project Gutenberg #40958 (fifth edition, 1847; copyright entered 1841). Dana is discussing the master of a merchant vessel and the effect of his conduct on officers and crew. This is nineteenth-century maritime professional guidance, not current maritime law.

“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars,” published in Lucasta (1649) and represented by Project Gutenberg #703. The lyric is Cavalier-era poetry spoken from a martial honor code; it is not a modern recommendation about relationships or war.

Memories and Portraits, in Stevenson’s reflection on graves and failed lives; Project Gutenberg #381. The sentence is literary commemoration, not a claim that every defeat is heroic.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case,” Project Gutenberg #42. This is Jekyll’s fictional account of moral and psychological division inside the novel, not a medical or psychological diagnosis.

“The Open Window,” collected in Beasts and Super-Beasts, Project Gutenberg #269. The line follows Vera’s invented explanation for Framton Nuttel’s terrified departure; it is comic fictional narration about a deceptive storyteller.

Rasselas, Chapter XXX; spoken by Imlac during a discussion of history, art and the practical use of studying what earlier people accomplished.

The Idler, No. 11; this paper is not among the numbers Johnson’s own advertisement excluded from his authorship.

Character, Chapter I, “Influence of Character,” Project Gutenberg #2541. The brief statement introduces Smiles’s comparison of character with property: an enduring possession expressed through goodwill, esteem and an honourably earned reputation.

Character, Chapter I, “Influence of Character,” Project Gutenberg #2541. The sentence follows Smiles’s claim that character is formed through minute circumstances and daily discipline, emphasizing that even apparently trivial acts carry consequences.

Character, Chapter IX, “Manner—Art,” Project Gutenberg #2541. Smiles places the sentence in his discussion of politeness as respect for the personality and circumstances of others, then describes the well-mannered person as modest, unpretentious and more interested in doing than boasting.