William Makepeace Thackeray Character Quotations

Nature has written a letter of credit upon some men's faces that is honored wherever presented. You cannot help trusting such men. Their very presence gives confidence. There is promise to pay in their faces which gives confidence and you prefer it to another man's endorsement. Character is credit.

Malice is of the boomerang character, and is apt to turn upon the projector.

As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet we, O foolish race! must try our very best to ape some one or two of our neighbors, whose ideas fit us no more than their breeches!

We love being in love, that's the truth on't. If we had not met Joan, we should have met Kate, and adored her. We know our mistresses are no better than many other women, nor no prettier, nor no wiser, nor no wittier. 'Tis not for these reasons we love a woman, or for any special quality or charm I know of; we might as well demand that a lady should be the tallest woman in the world, like the Shropshire giantess, as that she should be a paragon in any other character, before we began to love her.

She had not character enough to take to drinking, and moaned about, slip-shod and in curl-papers, all day.

What stories are new? All types of all characters march through all fables.

He who meanly admires a mean thing is a snob--perhaps that is a safe definition of the character.

If a man's character is to be abused, say what you will, there's nobody like a relative to do the business.