Quotes about character
page 30

Robert G. Ingersoll photo
Isabelle Adriani photo

“The fact that I can tell stories not only by writing them but also by living them through a character and therefore giving the public emotions (possibly positive), which is the ultimate goal of entertainment.”

Isabelle Adriani (1972) Italian actress, journalist, singer, and writer

Italians in the World. Isabelle Adriani, perfect balance between life and fairy tale. https://www.tesoriditaliamagazine.it/italians-in-the-world-isabelle-adriani-perfect-balance-between-life-and-fairy-tale (5 June 2020)

Chloé Zhao photo

“There's one that I remember so dearly, it's called the Three Character Classics. The first phrase goes... 'People at birth are inherently good.'”

Chloé Zhao (1982) Chinese film director, screenwriter, and film producer

Those six letters had such a great impact on me when I was a kid, and I still truly believe them today.
2021 Academy Award acceptance speech

Prevale photo

“The basic elements that make a person more or less interesting are: intelligence and character.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Gli elementi fondamentali che rendono più o meno interessante una persona sono: l'intelligenza e il carattere.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“An intense sentimental disappointment causes a character change, in which fear takes on a fundamental role.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Un'intensa delusione sentimentale provoca un cambiamento caratteriale, dove la paura assume un ruolo fondamentale.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“My mother, a woman with a sweet, good, sensitive and elegant soul, with a big heart. A woman with personality, strong character and a courage that she knows no bounds.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) ​Mia madre, una donna dall'animo dolce, buono, sensibile ed elegante, con un cuore grande. Una donna con personalità, dal carattere forte ed un coraggio che non conosce limiti.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“The elements that make a mother special: love, sweetness, character, patience and courage.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Gli elementi che rendono speciale una madre: amore, dolcezza, carattere, pazienza e coraggio.
Source: prevale.net

Mary Jo Catlett photo

“I would really like to do more dramatic work on the stage. It's difficult as a character actress because they casting directors and producers don't think of you as an actress, they think of you as a comedian.”

Mary Jo Catlett (1938) actress

HER ROLE AS DIRECTOR A LOT OF 'NUNSENSE' https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1988-01-31-0010310197-story.html (January 31, 1988)

Mao Zedong photo

“"War is the continuation of politics." In this sense war is politics and war itself is a political action; since ancient times there has never been a war that did not have a political character.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

(zh-CN) “战争是政治的继续”,在这点上说,战争就是政治,战争本身就是政治性质的行动,从古以来没有不带政治性的战争。
1930s, On Protracted Warfare (1938)

Lynn Shelton photo

“Good drama (and comedy) often comes from the simple act of placing characters in a situation that is not usual nor comfortable for them.”

Lynn Shelton (1965–2020) American film director, screenwriter, film editor, actress and film producer (1965-2020)

HuffPost Article - Interview with Lynn Shelton, Director of Humpday - 25 May 2011 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/interview-with-lynn-shelt_b_227673 - Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20210727183525/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/interview-with-lynn-shelt_b_227673

Michelle Yeoh photo

“Don't speak about diversity and just have us there because you want to make it look like it's diverse. Meaningful representation, that's what it's all about, where the characters have real hopes and dreams and lives and it's very sincere to the culture.”

Michelle Yeoh (1962) Malaysian-born actress of Chinese ethnicity

"Michelle Yeoh Hopes Crazy Rich Asians Will Turn the Trickle of Diversity in Hollywood "Into a Stream" " in Harper's Bazaar (27 August 2018) https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a22794930/michelle-yeoh-crazy-rich-asians-interview/

Isabel Allende photo

“I imagined the structure of the novel like a braid. My job was to blend three strands evenly and neatly. Each piece of the braid represented one of the stories. The characters were very different but they had something in common: they were emotionally wounded by events of their past.”

Isabel Allende (1942) Chilean writer

On her work In the Midst of Winter in “INTERVIEWS: Isabel Allende” https://bookpage.com/interviews/21986-isabel-allende-fiction#.XajuoPlKjcs in BookPage (2017 Oct 31)

Alexander von Humboldt photo

“Only what we have wrought into our character during life can we take away with us.”

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) Prussian geographer, naturalist and explorer

As quoted in Seed-grain for Thought and Discussion (1856) by Anna Cabot Lowell, Vol. 1, p. 260

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Anna Deavere Smith photo

“I do believe that character is a process, that truth is a process, and I am not interested in winning and losing…”

Anna Deavere Smith (1950) American actress, playwright and professor

On character building in “Wearing the Words: An Interview with Anna Deavere Smith” https://tricycle.org/magazine/wearing-words-interview-anna-deavere-smith/ in the Buddhist Review (Fall 1994)

Frithjof Schuon photo
Confucius photo

“A man's character is formed by the Odes, developed by the Rites and perfected by music.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

Quoted from Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage.
The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter VIII

Johann Kaspar Lavater photo

“Actions, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell characters.”

Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss poet

No. 637
Aphorisms on Man (1788)

Kelly Marie Tran photo

“I think, as an actor, you create things for your character that you think will make it more personal to you, because on the day, you want to make sure that you're truly there in the moment.”

Kelly Marie Tran (1989) American actress

As quoted in "Q&A: 'The Last Jedi' breakout Kelly Marie Tran on her whirlwind 'Star Wars' journey and Rose's future" in Baltimore Sun (20 December 2017) https://www.baltimoresun.com/la-et-mn-star-wars-the-last-jedi-rose-kelly-marie-tran-20171220-htmlstory.html

Sebastian Stan photo
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar photo
Irene Sabatini photo

“I think that literature, when it’s good, as opposed to journalism, gives you the freedom to be the characters, to enter into their lives, their psyche and so their experiences become, in a way, yours.”

Irene Sabatini (1967) writer from Zimbabwe

What these works of fiction have allowed me to do is to enter the pain and despair, the hope, to share in the struggles of certain characters that I have identified with (because of the artistry of the writers in making these individuals come alive).
Source: Institute of Education Alumni Life Issue 33 Summer 2010 https://www.irenesabatini.com/files/IS-Novel-Revolutionary-IOE-July-2010.pdf

Marcus Aurelius photo

“But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”

Hays translation
V, 37
Meditations (c. AD 121–180), Book V

Robert A. Heinlein photo
Penn Badgley photo

“As a person, I intellectualize plenty before and after, right? But really, as an actor during, I don't need to apply that same intellectual process because, first of all, when you play a character for this long, you just kind of know... It's very intuitive.”

Penn Badgley (1986) American actor and musician

Source: "'You': Penn Badgley on Joe's Wild Story in Season 3 and How Season 4 May Be "Quite Different"" in Collider https://collider.com/you-penn-badgley-interview-season-3-netflix-season-4/ (18 October 2021)
Context: I will say that honestly, as an actor ...

Émile Banning photo

“The King is no longer the same; the change of character and spirit observed in him for two or three years is accentuated and makes fear of a catastrophe, at a time when he had only to let it go to be a remarkable King, perhaps to become a large figure.”

Émile Banning (1836–1898) academic, civil servant

Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#_ftn194 WILLEQUET, J. Le baron Lambermont, 103.

Jesmyn Ward photo

“Place is important to my writing; I believe that if a reader gets a clear picture of the place where a character is from, then they can understand what motivates the character, what limits him or her…”

Jesmyn Ward (1977) American writer

Source: On using the setting to frame her novels in “Jesmyn Ward: ‘So much of life is pain and sorrow and wilful ignorance’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/12/jesmyn-ward-sing-unburied-sing-interview-meet-author in The Guardian (2017 Nov 12)

Vera Stanley Alder photo
Geling Yan photo
Geling Yan photo

“It’s always challenging to portray foreign characters in a novel that is told mainly from a Chinese perspective or, you may say, in a Chinese story.”

Geling Yan (1958) Chinese writer and screenwriter

Source: "What War Does to Human Hearts: Interview with Geling Yan" http://www.chinaww2.com/2016/04/30/what-war-does-to-human-hearts-interview-with-geling-yan/ (30 April 2016)

Auguste, Baron Lambermont photo

“The slave trade has another character; it is the very denial of every law, of all social order. Man-hunting constitutes a crime of high treason against humanity. It ought to be repressed wherever it can be reached, on land as well as by sea.”

Auguste, Baron Lambermont (1819–1905) Belgian politician

Source: New Africa; an essay on government civilization in new countries, and on the foundation, organization and administration of the Congo Free State, THE ORIENTAL SLAVE-TRADE, Page 132. https://archive.org/details/newafricaessayon00desciala/page/152/mode/2up Lambermont at the Berlin Conference.

“There are Challenges everywhere you must have Tenacity; you must have strength of character not to cheat.”

Ibukun Awosika (1962) Nigerian business magnate

https://laidlawscholars.network/posts/strength-of-character-not-to-cheat Ibukun Awosika Speaking on:Strength.

“Some auditions you get, and you feel like you already know the character. I got into her skin a little easier, and that's always a big draw. You don't have to struggle as much.”

Alisen Down (1976) Canadian actress

Source: BWW Interview: Alisen Down Chats about GRACEPOINT's Pillar of Integrity https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/BWW-Interview-Alisen-Down-Chats-about-GRACEPOINTs-Pillar-of-Integrity-20141118 (November 18, 2014 )

Madeline Carroll photo

“Whenever I watch movies, it doesn’t matter what it is, I try to I imagine somebody else doing the character.”

Madeline Carroll (1996) American actress

Source: Kevin Costner and Madeline Carroll Interview – SWING VOTE https://collider.com/kevin-costner-and-madeline-carroll-interview-swing-vote/ (July 29, 2008)

Giovanni Morassutti photo
Bo Xilai photo

“One ought to have the moral character and tolerance to forgive people’s weaknesses.”

Bo Xilai (1949) former Politburo member of the Communist Party of China

Source: Excerpts of letter to his first wife (14 July 1975)

Jeff "Swampy" Marsh photo

“From a cinema major’s perspective, philosophically, theoretically it’s easier for people to imprint on that character what they think they’re feeling. I don’t know why, but it seems easier for kids to identify with someone like Ferb, or Perry, when they say nothing.”

Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (1960) American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist and actor

Source: Phineas & Ferb's Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh on Their Platypus Super-Spy Perry https://www.mtv.com/news/2625269/phineas-ferbs-dan-povenmire-and-jeff-swampy-marsh/ (30 May 2012)

Mikheil Saakashvili photo

“Georgia's character - now and forever - celebrates tolerance, embraces diversity, relishes lively and open debate, and above all, respects liberty and human dignity. Georgia is a democracy, because above all - its national identity is rooted in the traditions of democracy.”

Mikheil Saakashvili (1967) Georgian-Ukrainian politician, President of Georgia and Governor of Odessa

Remarks to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2005)
Source: As quoted in "Remarks of the President of Georgia H.E. Mikheil Saakashvili to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe" https://reliefweb.int/report/georgia/remarks-president-georgia-he-mikheil-saakashvili-parliamentary-assembly-council (26 January 2005), ReliefWeb

“You need to focus on what’s in front of you, what your character’s going through in that exact moment. I don’t want to know the future. I don’t want to know too far ahead.”

Andrea Brooks (1989) Canadian actor

Source: Katie McGrath and Andrea Brooks Interview: Supergirl Season 5 https://www.showbizjunkies.com/tv/supergirl-katie-mcgrath-andrea-brooks-interview/ (September 23, 2019)

Gong Yoo photo

“When I become a character in a movie or drama … I can think about the character only and not the complicated matters of my own life. I feel ecstasy in those moments and it’s what keeps me going as an actor. It’s not about the money, it’s not about the honor.”

Gong Yoo (1979) South Korean actor

Source: "Gong Yoo on becoming South Korea’s leading man" in CNN https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/28/asia/gong-yoo-talk-asia/index.html (30 August 2017)

Gong Yoo photo

“Even when I choose projects, if before, I looked only at my own character, I am now more interested in what the producers are trying to say through this project and what kind of statement they want to make.”

Gong Yoo (1979) South Korean actor

Source: "How Much Has Gong Yoo Changed Since His Debut? Actor Spills Tea In Recent Interviews" in Korea Portal http://en.koreaportal.com/articles/50498/20210919/much-gong-yoo-changed-debut-actor-spills-tea-recent-interviews.htm (19 September 2021)

Alfred Austin photo
Tayari Jones photo

“When I first started writing, I was thinking of it as a book about mass incarceration, and mass incarceration is not a plot. It’s not a story. It’s not a character. I was at Harvard doing research on this subject, and I felt like I had a lot of information, but I had not yet found my story because I had to realize that I am a novelist. I’m not a sociologist. I’m not a documentarian. I’m not an ethnographer. And I found the story, actually, through eavesdropping…”

Tayari Jones (1970) American writer

Source: On how she chose the topic of mass incarceration for her novel An American Marriage in “If I Can’t Cry, Nobody Cries: An Interview with Tayari Jones” https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/02/08/cant-cry-nobody-cries-interview-tayari-jones/ in The Paris Review (2018 Feb 8)

Vera Stanley Alder photo
Dick Winters photo
Angel Chooi photo

“They (cosplay props to wear) are really heavy and could get uncomfortable, but it's all worth it because I get to portray my favorite character!”

Angel Chooi Malaysian teacher, model, online streamer and cosplayer

Angel Chooi (2022) cited in " [PHOTOS https://says.com/my/entertainment/here-are-some-cosplayers-you-might-ve-missed-on-anime-fest-2022-and-their-amazing-cosplays Here Are 6 Cosplayers From Anime Fest 2022 That Will Make You Go *Waku Waku*]" on SAYS, 20 May 2022.

Kyūichi Tokuda photo
Jonathan Bailey photo

“Theatre is all about people. You can love a play and character and can be the right person to tell that story. But if you don’t click with the other people in the play, it won’t work.”

Jonathan Bailey (1988) British actor

"Jonathan Bailey: Jonathan Bailey on starring in The York Realist, humanising LGBT history and the importance of community" in the Evening Standard https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/jonathan-bailey-on-starring-in-the-york-realist-humanising-lgbt-history-and-the-importance-of-community-a3761256.html (8 February 2018)

Benedict Cumberbatch photo

“Very often we (cosplayers) are subject to harsh criticism when we do not look similar enough to movie or anime characters, and body-shaming is very commonly experienced by many cosplayers. I got a comment saying 'I'm too fat for Jinx.'”

Rikka Blurhound Malaysian cosplayer and nutritionist

Rikka Blurhound (2022) cited in " Malaysian Cosplayer Shares Her Painful But Passionate Journey Cosplaying Over The Years https://says.com/my/lifestyle/malaysian-cosplayer-badass-transformation-from-nutritionist-to-arcane-jinx" on SAYS, 13 April 2022.

Kengo Kuma photo
Walt Disney photo

“We have created characters and animated them in the dimension of depth, revealing through them to our perturbed world that the things we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us.
.. They say I'm a conservative, but I consider myself a true liberal.”

Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman

As quoted August 2004 in How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life by Pat Williams, Jim Denney, pg. 371
Year unknown, published in 2004

Charles, Prince of Wales photo

“If you want to develop character, go to Australia.”

Charles, Prince of Wales (1948) son of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

"'Pommy bastard' Prince Charles reveals 'huge affection' for Australia" https://www.smh.com.au/world/pommy-bastard-prince-charles-reveals-huge-affection-for-australia-20110127-1a5na.html, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 2011
2010s

Ottobah Cugoano photo
Benito Mussolini photo

“The Socialists, and I am still one, although an exasperated one, never brought forward the question of irredentism, but left it to the Republicans. We are in favour of a national war. But there are also reasons, purely socialist in character, which spur us on towards intervention.”

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Leader of the National Fascist Party and subsequen…

“Mussolini the ‘Man of the War’” speech delivered at the Mazza, Parma (13 December 1914) p. 15
1920s, Mussolini as Revealed in his Political Speeches (November 1914—August 1923) (1923)

Frank Lloyd Wright photo
Meaghan Martin photo

“The better you know your character, the more naturally it comes. But at the same time I don’t know that I ever want it to be easy, because the minute it gets easy I think I get too comfortable. And so I always am trying to search for what I can do to make my performance better”

Meaghan Martin (1992) American musician and actor

Interview: Meaghan Martin and Nick Braun from ABC Family’s ’10 Things I Hate About You’ https://www.fanbolt.com/5659/interview-meaghan-martin-and-nick-braun-from-abc-familys-10-things-i-hate-about-you/ (March 26, 2010)

Mila Kunis photo

“You want to be honest with a character and play it truthfully, and you want to be genuine with your character.”

Mila Kunis (1983) American actress

"Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis dish Black Swan" in sheKnows https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/820805/natalie-portman-and-mila-kunis-dish-black-swan/2/ (30 November 2010)

Prevale photo

“A person's authentic character is revealed the moment he gets angry.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Il carattere autentico di una persona si rivela nel momento in cui si arrabbia.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“Hide by claiming to have a shitty character, when the truth is not wanting to acknowledge that you have disrespect: it is pure cowardice.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Nascondersi affermando di avere un carattere di merda, quando la verità è non voler riconoscere che si ha mancanza di rispetto: è pura vigliaccheria.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“If you want to get to know a person well, wait for them to get angry. An angry person always acts on instinct showing his true character and authentic thoughts of him.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Se vuoi conoscere bene una persona, aspetta che si arrabbi. Una persona arrabbiata agisce sempre d'istinto mostrando il suo vero carattere ed i suoi autentici pensieri.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“True beauty is the essence of your person: the set of inclinations of temperament, character, personality, nature, instinct, mood, sweetness, reason and soul.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La vera bellezza è l'essenza della tua persona: l'insieme delle inclinazioni di temperamento, carattere, personalità, natura, istinto, umore, dolcezza, ragione ed animo.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“The woman who has charm, has character.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: La donna che ha fascino, ha carattere.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“Rarities such as sincerity, respect, humility, character, loyalty, love and reciprocity belong to true souls.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Rarità come la sincerità, il rispetto, l'umiltà, il carattere, la lealtà, l'amore e la reciprocità appartengono alle anime vere.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“You are the enchanting woman who remains carved into my mind. You have a dominant character, you are authentic and charming.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Sei la donna incantevole che rimane scolpita nella mia mente. Hai un carattere dominante, sei autentica e affascinante.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“In a woman: beauty attracts, sweetness captures, charm seduces, character intrigues and courage conquers.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: In una donna: la bellezza attrae, la dolcezza cattura, il fascino seduce, il carattere intriga e il coraggio conquista.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“You will become strong and unique when you work on what no one can take away from you: your mentality, your character and your personality.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Diventerete forti ed unici quando lavorerete su ciò che nessuno potrà portarvi via: la vostra mentalità, il vostro carattere e la vostra personalità.
Source: prevale.net

This quote waiting for review.
José Baroja photo

“The city is not just a setting, but also a character with its own voice.”

José Baroja (1983) Chilean author and editor

Source: Interview to José Baroja. https://grupoigneo.com/blog/entrevista-jose-baroja-literatura/

This quote waiting for review.
José Baroja photo