Every man has three characters—­that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.—­Alphonse Karr.

The best rules to form a young man are to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one’s own opinions, and value others that deserve it.—­Sir William temple.

Brains and character rule the world.  The most distinguished Frenchman of the last century said, “Men succeed less by their talents than their character.”  There were scores of men a hundred years ago who had more intellect than Washington.  He outlives and overrides them all by the influence of his character.—­Wendell Phillips.

All men are like in their lower natures; it is in their higher characters that they differ.—­Bovee.

You may depend upon it that he is a good man whose intimate friends are all good.—­Lavater.

Give me the character and I will forecast the event.  Character, it has in substance been said, is “victory organized.”—­Bovee.

A good character is in all cases the fruit of personal exertion.  It is not inherited from parents, it is not created by external advantages, it is no necessary appendage of birth, wealth, talents, or station; but it is the result of one’s own endeavors.—­Hawes.

Actions, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell characters.—­Lavater.

Charity.—­I have much more confidence in the charity which begins in the home and diverges into a large humanity, than in the world-wide philanthropy which begins at the outside of our horizon to converge into egotism.—­Mrs. Jameson.

To complain that life has no joys while there is a single creature whom we can relieve by our bounty, assist by our counsels, or enliven by our presence, is to lament the loss of that which we possess, and is just as irrational as to die of thirst with the cup in our hands.—­FITZOSBORNE.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.—­Matthew 6:3.

The spirit of the world encloses four kinds of spirits, diametrically opposed to charity—­the spirit of resentment, spirit of aversion, spirit of jealousy, and the spirit of indifference.—­Bossuet.

Posthumous charities are the very essence of selfishness, when bequeathed by those who, when alive, would part with nothing.—­Colton.

The drying up a single tear has more
Of honest fame, than shedding seas of gore. 
—­Byron.

Be charitable and indulgent to every one but yourself.—­Joubert.