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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.

Breathing is always key in any character. When you have a character with no voice, that makes it even more important.

Quotes by John Carroll Lynch

I have an occasionally recurring stutter, but not when in character on stage in a play. Odd. James Earl Jones has the same pattern; he stutters in everyday life but not when acting. Preparation requires an actor's concentration to make...

Quotes by John Casey

What helps writers, and ultimately, obviously, helps the actors - who should serve the words that the writer puts on the page - is if the character has damages, because then the writers can cultivate and excavate, like a dentist...

Quotes by John C. McGinley

I have no issue with being a character actor. If you've been around enough that people are able to segregate you into that category, it means you're working. So that's good!

Quotes by John C. McGinley

YouTube viewers essentially curate their own content, so you could form your playlist to watch 'H+' through the eyes of one character, in chronological order, in reverse-chronological order, by geographic location. Our hope is that audiences take 'H+' into their...

Quotes by John Cabrera

I was brought up very Catholic, and the character of Tommy Gnosis got his name from there.

Quotes by John Cameron Mitchell

Women are about the best lovers of nature, after all; at least of nature in her milder and more familiar forms. The feminine character, the feminine perceptions, intuitions, delicacy, sympathy, quickness, are more responsive to natural forms and influences than...

Quotes by John Burroughs

I am aware how difficult is the task to preserve free institutions over so wide a space and so immense a population, but we are blessed with a Constitution admirably calculated to accomplish it. Its elastic power is unequaled, which...

Quotes by John C. Calhoun

What we want, above all things on earth in our public men, is independence. It is one great defect in the character of the public men of America that there is that real want of independence; and, in this respect,...

Quotes by John C. Calhoun

I'd like to be in anything that tells a good story and has an interesting character.

Quotes by John Boyega

I find with television, you have to play personality, whereas onstage, everyone talks about 'the character,' and what you do. It's a very different thing, because stage is much bigger, but on television, for things to come across to the...

Quotes by John Barrowman

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

Quotes by John Adams

Action, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell character.

Quotes by Johann Kaspar Lavater

It's the trials and tribulations that really test a person, and coming through those difficulties is what shapes a person's character.

Quotes by Johanna Konta

We can't put up a protectionist dam on our own against the neo-liberal world market either. However, we can try, together with our European partners, to maintain the social character of Europe as much as possible.

Quotes by Johan Huizinga

The interest in character-driven content over narrative-driven ditto is increasing; that's why television steps in. Personally, I love it, since psychology and character, really, are my beacons.

Quotes by Johan Renck

You have to show the character is confused or scared or happy through your voice instead of with your face and body.

Quotes by Joey King

I guess there's a certain amount of poking fun at certain characters, but that's because there is something amusing about them or about the way they behave, so I guess you can say that that's poking fun at the character....

Quotes by Joel Coen

You're doing it to make the character as specific as possible, so that it's a specific individual that you're talking about, not that whole class of people.

Quotes by Joel Coen

I'm hardly digging trenches for a living. I'm getting to tap into my boyhood fantasies of being a larger-than-life character.

Quotes by Joel Edgerton

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.