“[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous.”
Letter to Steptoe Washington http://westillholdthesetruths.org/quotes/60/a-good-moral-character-is-the (5 December 1790)
1790s
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George Washington 186
first President of the United States 1732–1799Related quotes

Source: yt
“Train your children in karma yoga that they may become people of good and strong character.”
Karma yoga
Source: The Teachings of Babaji, 31 August 1983.

Jackson, Jim, Walking Together Forever: The Broad Street Bullies, Then and Now

Variant: Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.