This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Alphonse de Lamartine, fully Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine
The greatness of a popular character is less according to the ratio of his genius than the sympathy he shows with the prejudices and even the absurdities of his time. Fanatics do not select the cleverest, but the most fanatical leaders.
We are in the grip of a scientific materialism, caught in a vicious cycle where our security today seems to depend on regimentation and weapons which will ruin us tomorrow… the intellectual achievements of great scientists are being perverted by the material exploitation of industry and war…I have lived to experience the early results of scientific materialism… have watched pride of workmanship leave and human character decline as efficiency of production lines increased… I have seen the science I worshipped and the aircraft I loved destroying the civilization I expected them to save.
Character | Civilization | Efficiency | Experience | Industry | Materialism | Pride | Science | Security | Tomorrow | War | Weapons | Will |
C. S. Lewis, fully Clive Staples "C.S." Lewis, called "Jack" by his family
The truth is that right actions done for the wrong reasons do not help to build the internal quality or character that is called "virtue," and it is this quality or character that really matters.
Charles de Gaulle, fully Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle
Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.
Action | Character | Man | Responsibility |
Claudian, latin Claudius Claudianus NULL
The noblest character is stained by the addition of pride.
Dale Carnegie, originally spelled Dale Carnegey
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.
Character | Control | Self | Understanding |
David Ben-Gurion, born David Grün
The State of Israel will prove itself not by material wealth, not by military might or technical achievement, but by its moral character and human values.
Achievement | Character | Wealth | Will |
Eleanor Roosevelt, fully Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Only a man's character is the real criterion of worth.
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person; it is an attitude, an orientation of character which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole, not toward one "object" of love.
Character | Relationship | World |
Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.
E. O. Wilson, fully Edward Osborne "E.O." Wilson
True character arises from a deeper well than religion. It is the internalization of moral principles of a society, augmented by those tenets personally chosen by the individual, strong enough to endure through trials of solitude and adversity. The principles are fitted together into what we call integrity, literally the integrated self, wherein personal decisions feel good and true. Character is in turn the enduring source of virtue. It stands by itself and excites admiration in others
Admiration | Character | Enough | Good | Principles | Solitude | Tenets | Trials |
Eddie Rickenbacker, formally Edward Vernon "Eddie" Rickenbacker
The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence.
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
Any idea is strong only if it is grounded in a person's character structure. No idea is more potent than its emotional matrix.
There is but one quality necessary for the perfect understanding of character, one quality that, if man have it, he may dare to judge—that is, omniscience. Most people study character as a proofreader pores over a great poem: his ears are dulled to the majesty and music of the lines, his eyes are darkened to the magic imagination of the genius of the author; that proofreader is busy watching for an inverted comma, a misspacing, or a wrong font letter. He has an eye trained for the imperfections, the weaknesses.
Character | Genius | Imagination | Magic | Man | Music | People | Study | Understanding | Wrong |
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is a "standing in," not a "falling for." In the most general way, the active character of love can be described by stating that love is primarily giving, not receiving.
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
Neurosis can be understood best as the battle between tendencies within an individual; deep character analysis leads, if successful, to the progressive solution.
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
Temperament refers to the mode of reaction and is constitutional and not changeable; character is essentially formed by a person’s experiences, especially of those in early life, and changeable, to some extent, by insights and new kinds of experiences. If a person has a choleric temperament, for instance, his mode of reaction is "quick and strong.” But what he is quick or strong about depends on his kind of relatedness, his character. If he is a productive, just, loving person he will react quickly and strongly when he loves, when he is enraged by injustice, and when he is impressed by a new idea. If he is a destructive or sadistic character, he will be quick and strong in his destructiveness or in his cruelty. The confusion between temperament and character has had serious consequences for ethical theory. Preferences with regard to differences in temperament are mere matters of subjective taste. But differences in character are ethically of the most fundamental importance.
Character | Consequences | Regard | Will |