--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: 'Character,\" says Novalis, in one of his…" description: "\"'Character,\" says Novalis, in one of his questionable aphorisms - character is destiny'.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png" --- # 'Character," says Novalis, in one of his questionable… ![“'Character," says Novalis, in one of his questionable aphorisms - character is destiny'.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png) > “'Character," says Novalis, in one of his questionable aphorisms - character is destiny'.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Character determines one's fate, shaping life outcomes. **In simple terms:** Character shapes destiny. Key Takeaway Cultivate strong character. Themes character destiny self Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - career decisions - relationships Key Concepts philosophy determinism Questions to Reflect On - How does character influence your choices? - Can character be changed? A Different Perspective Character alone may not guarantee success. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aphorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism/) [Aphorisms Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorisms-character-1878628/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Character Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-destiny-859690/) [Character Says](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-says-530274/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Novalis Questionable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novalis-questionable-4792988/) [Questionable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questionable/) [Says Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/says-novalis-1878627/) ## Related quotes > [“For the tragedy of our lives is not created entirely from within. "Character," says Novalis, in one of his questionable aphorisms,–"character is destiny." But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/for-the-tragedy-of-our-lives-is-not-created-entirely-from-within/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [If you're playing a character who says whatever he wants, I felt free to say whatever I wanted on set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-tudyk/if-you-re-playing-a-character-who-says-whatever-he-wants-i-felt-free/) [Alan Tudyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-tudyk/) > [When I leave the theater I can always hear people talking about the character, and everyone always says, "You know, I know someone like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-mol/when-i-leave-the-theater-i-can-always-hear-people-talking-about-the/) [Gretchen Mol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-mol/) > [There are dialogue writers for a movie, there is a script to be followed... whatever my character says is not a reflection on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/urvashi-rautela/there-are-dialogue-writers-for-a-movie-there-is-a-script-to-be/) [Urvashi Rautela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/urvashi-rautela/) > [I think Will Smith's character says it best in his opening speech when he says, "We long for love, we wish we had more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-loeb/i-think-will-smith-s-character-says-it-best-in-his-opening-speech/) [Allan Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-loeb/) > [You have to sort of see the way that the character behaves, and what the character says and does, and claim it in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-roxburgh/you-have-to-sort-of-see-the-way-that-the-character-behaves-and-what/) [Richard Roxburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-roxburgh/) > [My girlfriend tells me if I'm doing a movie I'm a roller coaster of emotions all the time, but on 'Boardwalk,' because I've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-huston/my-girlfriend-tells-me-if-i-m-doing-a-movie-i-m-a-roller-coaster-of/) [Jack Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-huston/) > [When you are writing a character, what the character says is obviously crucial. 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From the state of a man's heart doth proceed the conditions of his life; his thoughts blossom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/the-within-is-ceaselessly-becoming-the-without-from-the-state-of-a/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [“I have always believed that character is destiny, that if you know someone's true character, you can pretty much map out how your association…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lozell-martin/i-have-always-believed-that-character-is-destiny-that-if-you-know/) [David Lozell Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lozell-martin/) > [Watch your character for your character is your destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/watch-your-character-for-your-character-is-your-destiny/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hsieh/for-individuals-character-is-destiny-for-organizations-culture-is/) [Tony Hsieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hsieh/) > [“Character is too deep to catch in a single storyline. What really moves us - what makes the great stories, and there aren't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-scofield/character-is-too-deep-to-catch-in-a-single-storyline-what-really/) [Sandra Scofield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-scofield/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Aphorism quotes > [“Who flies high, easily chooses his target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/who-flies-high-easily-chooses-his-target/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“For their never-ending endeavours to obtain or retain wealth, countries desperately need companies, because they—unlike most human beings—have the means of production, and human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/for-their-never-ending-endeavours-to-obtain-or-retain-wealth/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Listen! The court jester's cap and bells. The King is coming!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/listen-the-court-jester-s-cap-and-bells-the-king-is-coming/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“An expensive coffin does not decrease the deceased’s chances of going to hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/an-expensive-coffin-does-not-decrease-the-deceased-s-chances-of-going/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The eleventh commandment of art: thou shalt not be boring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-m-driscoll/the-eleventh-commandment-of-art-thou-shalt-not-be-boring/) [W.M. Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-m-driscoll/) > [A journal takes the place of a confidant, that is, of friend or wife; it becomes a substitute for production, a substitute for country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-journal-takes-the-place-of-a-confidant-that-is-of-friend-or-wife-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A premature death does not only rob one of the countless instances where one would have experienced pleasure, it also saves one from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-premature-death-does-not-only-rob-one-of-the-countless-instances/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/the-real-purpose-of-the-opposition-is-to-minimize-the-amount-of-money/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“I played the best role in my life. I had a great director.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-played-the-best-role-in-my-life-i-had-a-great-director/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“Be ware! Santa Claus is a fake profile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/be-ware-santa-claus-is-a-fake-profile/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“He who lies and steals ...and forms a government.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/he-who-lies-and-steals-and-forms-a-government/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“I got married. A bright past is ahead of me!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-got-married-a-bright-past-is-ahead-of-me/) [ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“People who smile while they are alone used to be called insane, until we invented smartphones and social media.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/people-who-smile-while-they-are-alone-used-to-be-called-insane-until/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Why must an aphorism be brief? Because only a fool gives a speech in a burning house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-geary/why-must-an-aphorism-be-brief-because-only-a-fool-gives-a-speech-in-a/) [James Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-geary/) > [How many of us have been attracted to reason; first learned to think, to draw conclusions, to extract a moral from the follies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-many-of-us-have-been-attracted-to-reason-first-learned-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 399 Aphorism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "'Character,\" says Novalis, in one of his questionable aphorisms - character is destiny'.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-questionable-aphorisms-character/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aphorism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-questionable-aphorisms-character/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f23/george-eliot-84_aphorism_character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-que_583772.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“'Character,\" says Novalis, in one of his questionable aphorisms - character is destiny'.” — George Eliot", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "'Character,\" says Novalis, in one of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-questionable-aphorisms-character/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/character-says-novalis-in-one-of-his-questionable-aphorisms-character/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```