Character Quotes

Compelling characters are not cogs in the machine of your plot; they are human beings to whom the story happens.

Characterization requires a constant back-and-forth between the exterior events of the story and the inner life of the character.

There is no road to success but through a clear strong purpose. Nothing can take its place. A purpose underlies character, culture, position, attainment of every part.

The character of the artist doesn't enter into the nature of the art

I don't think there's a certain part of a character I take with me. There's a certain part of me I leave with each character, though.

If you think that you can sin, and then by cries avert the consequences of sin, you insult God's character.

To live each day as though one's last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing - here is the perfection of character.

The graceful pride of truth knows no extremes, and preserves, in every latitude of life, the right-angled character of man.

There are always practical decisions to be made about any character you're playing.

When becoming a character, you have to steal. Steal whatever you see. You can even steal from other actors' characterizations; but if you do, only steal from the best.

To a commonplace man of limited intellect, for instance, nothing is simpler than to imagine himself an original character, and to revel in that belief without the slightest misgiving.

If it were considered desirable to destroy a human being, the only thing necessary would be to give his work a character of uselessness

In terms of writing characters or stories, at least initially, there's no difference between live-action and animation. A good story is a good story, whatever the medium.

In Spiritual formation we are aiming at a character and life that is so shaped that the deeds of Christ routinely and easily come from what is inside.

When I did 'The Social Network,' David Fincher told me that I managed to make a thankless character pretty awesome. I thought that was really cool because I think he's really cool.

I've made no secret of the fact that I often wear wigs and have in fact launched my own Dynasty range, named after various characters. I find this saves a ton of time - as well as my own hair.

There's a fashion, or maybe you could call it a necessity, in French cinema to make social films, which is to say films in which the characters are defined by their social context.

Places have their own characters. . . . But the people begin to look the same.

History thus becomes largely a study of character. Insight into temperament is hardly less important than the probing of "original materials."

Our conduct will never change God's character.

A man's penmanship is an unfailing index of his character, moral and mental, and a criterion by which to judge his peculiarities of taste and sentiments.

I like characters who have faults. I'm drawn to darker people.

You can draw a penguin on a toilet reading The New York Times and it's adorable, but try doing it with an adult male character, and it's disgusting.

It's fun making new skills for new characters.

For me, when I'm making a movie I like to stay in character throughout the day.

Strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one's balance in spite of them.

As an actor, I usually try and keep my motivation within the context of what the character is going through.

Golf puts a man's character on the anvil and his richest qualities - patience, poise, restraint - to the flame.

In my case I don't mind playing a character that irritates people or makes people question my sanity.

As a director and an actor, I encourage improvisation but in character and in the moment of what it is.

I'm an actor who plays an intriguing character, not a political pundit.

Becoming rich isn't as much about getting rich financially as about whom you become, in character and mind, to get rich.

By my count, more business leaders have failed and derailed because of arrogance than any other character flaw.

I just look for characters that have dimensions. If I don't see it written on the page, then I try to put it in there somehow. You don't want to play the same role twice.

The villain of any story is often the most compelling character.

No character is ultimately tested until it has suffered.

Computer science is to biology what calculus is to physics. It's the natural mathematical technique that best maps the character of the subject.

Every issue, the characters and I duke it out. They usually win.

Be absolutely clear about who you are and what you stand for. Refuse to compromise.

I think when you play a role, you always have to be a defense attorney for that character.

Slavery can only be abolished by raising the character of the people who compose the nation; and that can be done only by showing them a higher one.

Christian obedience, by its very nature, has a heroic character.

Comics as art. I do comics as comics, and my opportunity to tell stories. Simple. Basic. Let the characters have the excitement, not the package. That's where I come from.

Winning takes character and intelligence. It is the most important thing you can do because it's a reaffirmation of your character.

The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.

There is something even more valuable to civilization than wisdom, and that is character.

I'm much more low-key than the characters I've played.

What we need in appointive positions is men of knowledge and experience who have sufficient character to resist temptations.

All sudden and violent changes, whatever their causes or character, must tend to decrease the respect for status quo as a natural order of things.

There are a million little things, but one of the best ways to get to know characters is to just put them in situations and see what they say.