Reputation Quotes

“With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.”
― Margaret Mitchell

“Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
Focus on your character, not your reputation.
Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“The nicest feeling in the world is to do a good deed anonymously-and have somebody find out.”
― Oscar Wilde

“It is better to be alone than in bad company.”
― George Washington

“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness, who was getting muddled by Koroviev. Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.
'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.
'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
― Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

“But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party," said Fred. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhiskey, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his--"
Yes, he sounds like a real charmer," said Hermione, while Harry roared with laughter.
Never married, for some reason," said Ron.”
― J.K. Rowling

“You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
― Henry Ford

“The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.”
― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

“Makin' mistakes ain't a crime, you know. What's the use of having a reputation if you can't ruin it every now and then?”
― Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry

“Your reputation is in the hands of others. That's what the reputation is. You can't control that. The only thing you can control is your character.”
― Wayne W. Dyer

“People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are.”
― George Eliot, Middlemarch

“Don't destroy yourself by allowing negative people add gibberish and debris to your character, reputation, and aspirations. Keep all dreams alive but discreet, so that those with unhealthy tongues won't have any other option than to infest themselves with their own diseases.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, The Infinity Sign

“Remember no one expects you to be Halt. He's a legend, after all. Haven't you heard? He's eight feet tall and kills bears with his bare hands...”
― John Flanagan, Erak's Ransom

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
― Thomas Paine

“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
’twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.”
― William Shakespeare, Othello

“Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of -- for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”
― Socrates

“If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself.”
― D.L. Moody

“If you want to discover the true character of a person, you have only to observe what they are passionate about.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign

“Never judge someone's character based on the words of another. Instead, study the motives behind the words of the person casting the bad judgment. An honest woman can sell tangerines all day and remain a good person until she dies, but there will always be naysayers who will try to convince you otherwise. Perhaps this woman did not give them something for free, or at a discount. Perhaps too, that she refused to stand with them when they were wrong — or just stood up for something she felt was right. And also, it could be that some bitter women are envious of her, or that she rejected the advances of some very proud men. Always trust your heart. If the Creator stood before a million men with the light of a million lamps, only a few would truly see him because truth is already alive in their hearts. Truth can only be seen by those with truth in them. He who does not have Truth in his heart, will always be blind to her.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“A bad conscience is easier to cope with than a bad reputation.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs

“Give a man a reputation as an early riser and he can sleep 'til noon.”
― Mark Twain

“By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of deliberate heartlessness; how undeserved, I alone can appreciate.”
― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

“You can't believe everything people tell you - not even if those people are your own brain.”
― Jefferson Smith, Strange Places

“Rumour is a pipe
Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures
And of so easy and so plain a stop
That the blunt monster with uncounted heads,
The still-discordant wavering multitude,
Can play upon it.”
― William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part Two

“If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don't aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don't altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn't easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are going to shortchange the other.”
― Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness

“Whether true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence on their lives, and particularly on their destinies, as what they do.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“She was happy, and perfectly in line with the tradition of those women they used to call "ruined," "fallen," feckless, bitches in heat, ravished dolls, sweet sluts, instant princesses, hot numbers, great lays, succulent morsels, everybody's darlings...”
― Jean Genet, Querelle of Brest

“Tale-bearers are as bad as the tale-makers.”
― Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal

“Appearance tyrannizes over truth.”
― Plato, The Republic