Tracy Kidder Quotes

Character is greater than talent, genius, fame, money, friends - there is nothing to compare with it. A man may have all these and yet remain comparatively useless - be unhappy - and die a bankrupt in soul.

Character is the basis of happiness and happiness the sanction of character.

We need to have a purpose in this life. I'm pleading with you, I'm begging with you to do the right thing. And do it not for the sake of how it will impact your own lives, but only for the sake of doing the right thing.

Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.

If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue.

Our ideals are our better selves.

True freedom is where an individual's thoughts and actions are in alignment with that which is true, correct, and of honor - no matter the personal price.

Respect for self is the beginning of cultivating virtue in men and women.

In essence, I set myself the objective of doing what I feel is right without having any ambition.

We are apt to love praise, but not deserve it. But if we would deserve it, we must love virtue more than that.

I am always prepared to do the right thing regardless of what other people think.

I did not use paint, I made myself up morally.

I have tried so hard to do right.

Man is most happy, when his own actions are arguments and examples of his virtue.

In order to maintain my own self-respect, I had to dedicate my life to something that was greater than my own self-interest.

You can't be all bad all the time.

I try to do the right thing. If you do what you know is right, and you're a good person, you might not win short-term all the time, and financial gains might not be there all the time, but ultimately, you can be pretty happy, and you can do some pretty good things in the world. Keep a positive outlook.

Attend well to your character, and your reputation will look out for itself.

A good man does not spy around for the black spots in others, but presses unswervingly on towards his mark.

Make it a rule and pray to God to help you keep it . . . never, if possible, to lie down at night without being able to say "I have made one human being at least a little wiser, a little happier, or a little better this day."

I choose goodness... I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

The man who in view of gain thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends - such a man may be reckoned a complete man.

Be thou good thyself, and let people speak evil of thee; it is better than to be wicked, and that they should consider thee as good.

Throughout my life, I have always tried to do what is right.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.