All JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE Quotes about “Character”

“Character develops itself in the stream of life.”
“There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.”
“Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.”
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
“Nothing tells more about the character of a man than the things he makes fun of.”
“Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.”
“We can really respect a man only if he doesn't always look out for himself.”
“It is the color closest to light. In its utmost purity it always implies the nature of brightness and has a cheerful, serene, gently stimulating character. Hence, experience teaches us that yellow makes a thoroughly warm and comforting impression.”
“A talent can be cultivated in tranquility; a character only in the rushing stream of life.”
“Every man must form himself as a particular being, seeking, however, to attain that general idea of which all mankind are constituents.”
“One should not wish anyone disagreeable conditions of life; but for him who is involved in them by chance, they are touchstones of characters and of the most decisive value to man.”
“A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent.”
“What is the true test of character unless it be its progressive development in the bustle and turmoil, in the action and reaction of daily life.”
“As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.”
“Men's prejudices rest upon their character for the time being and cannot be overcome, as being part and parcel of themselves. Neither evidence nor common sense nor reason has the slightest influence upon them.”
“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable.”
“Talent is nurtured in solitude; character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.”
“There is nothing by which men display their character so much as in what they consider ridiculous... Fools and sensible men are equally innocuous. It is in the half fools and the half wise that the great danger lies.”
“Without my attempts in natural science, I should never have learned to know mankind such as it is. In nothing else can we so closely approach pure contemplation and thought, so closely observe the errors of the senses and of the understanding, the weak and strong points of character.”
“It is commonly the personal character of a writer which gives him his public significance. It is not imparted by his genius. Napoleon said of Corneille, "Were he living I would make him a king;" but he did not read him. He read Racine, yet he said nothing of the kind of Racine.”
“Character - in things great and small - is indicated when a man (or person) pursues with sustained follow-through what he feels himself capable of doing.”
“We love a girl for very different qualities than understanding. We love her for her beauty, her youth, her mirth, her confidingness, her character, with its faults, caprices and God knows what other inexpressible charms; but we do not love her understanding.”
“Character is constructed amidst the tempests of the World”

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