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Character Quotes

Character shows up in fiction, politics and physics.

"Character" is used two distinct ways in this collection — as a literary term about how a fictional character carries moral weight, and as a description of personal integrity tied to one's politics and work. For traits and personality more broadly, see Personality quotes.

I have a comic character - my sister said that I'm the victim of every joke I tell.

Quotes by Maria Bamford

There is always one person on the set who has a lot of anxiety, an actor who is really intense and has to stay in character and holds himself away from the rest of us.

Quotes by Maria Bello

In Endless Quest books, you start the plot, and the character has to make choices. Then you have to write one choice over here, one choice over there. The author might get one or two choices out.

Quotes by Margaret Weis

I was able to work out all sorts of attitudes to style and event and character, all of which affected the way I came to think about my own writing. I believe that all good writers are original.

Quotes by Margaret Mahy

The character and history of each child may be a new and poetic experience to the parent, if he will let it.

Quotes by Margaret Fuller

He has the common feeling of his profession. He enjoys a statement twice as much if it appears in fine print, and anything that turns up in a footnote... takes on the character of divine revelation.

Quotes by Margaret Halsey

The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.

Quotes by Margaret Chase Smith

The first job of a storyteller is to make the reader feel the story, to get the reader to live in the skin of the character.

Quotes by Marcus Sakey

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.

Quotes by Marcus Tullius Cicero

As fire when thrown into water is cooled down and put out, so also a false accusation when brought against a man of the purest and holiest character, boils over and is at once dissipated, and vanishes and threats of...

Quotes by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.

Marcus Aurelius

No one knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan and raised an adolescent.

Quotes by Marcelene Cox

Theater actors like to change character roles. They don't like to always do the same thing.

Quotes by Marcello Mastroianni

When you're writing fiction, you're in every character 'cause you can't help it.

Quotes by Marcia Clark

I love it when ugliness is beautiful. I love character flaws.

Quotes by Marcia Gay Harden

I'm just a pack mule. I've played leads and I've played character roles. Any actress in Hollywood will tell you as your age climbs, the leads thin.

Quotes by Marcia Gay Harden

I feel that, for each show I've been doing, there's a character that dominates. Then in the next show it plays a smaller part, and then in the next it has a sort of cameo piece. So they all have...

Quotes by Marcel Dzama

The character we've always thought of as the Wicked Witch of the West is a green girl who's actually very good, misunderstood, and trying to make her way in the world. She's an outsider looking in, wanting to be loved....

Quotes by Marc Platt

It's hard to get an inner dialogue in a film. It's not cinematic. But in a musical, the character can just turn to the audience and sing.

Quotes by Marc Platt

There is something I feel when I animate something; you can never really understand the character you're animating unless you've had the opportunity to turn it around. Once you've done that, you know it is a three-dimensional object.

Quotes by Marc Davis

Frequently Asked Questions

What different meanings of "character" appear on this page?
Several - literary character in the sense of a written character's moral dimension, the idea that one's politics and the character of their work are inseparable, the freeing quality of dialogue comedy, and even a scientific reference to the "duality of character" in matter and radiation.
Is there a quote about writing and moral character in fiction?
Yes, one quote discusses how everything in fiction ultimately comes down to the relationship between the reader, the writer, and the characters, questioning whether a character addresses moral being in an important way. For more, see the Characters page.
Is there a quote connecting politics and creative work?
Yes, one quote states a belief that "one's politics and the character of his particular work are inseparable," reflecting a radical viewpoint. Browse the Personality page for more on how personal outlook shapes expression.
Is there a quote about comedy writing and characters?
Yes, one quote describes finding it liberating that in dialogue comedy, the characters and what they say aren't the writer themselves - just fleeting thoughts and observations rather than stated truths. For more on how characters take shape, see the Character Development page.
Is there a scientific quote about "character" here?
Yes, interestingly - one quote uses "duality of character" to describe how matter and radiation sometimes behave like waves and sometimes like particles, applying the word in a scientific rather than literary sense. For more on how character is portrayed, check out the Characterization page.

Unusually, one entry borrows the word from physics, describing the dual wave-and-particle character of matter and radiation. Continue with Characters quotes or Character Development quotes.