---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Character is built out of circumstances…"
description: "\"Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.\" — George Henry Lewes"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg"
---

#  Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the…

![“Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.” quote by George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg)

> “Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.”

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People’s character emerges from how they use the same resources, leading to vastly different outcomes based on choices and mindset.

**In simple terms:** Choices shape destiny from

Key Takeaway

Focus on constructive choices.

Themes

character choice environment

Mood

thoughtful inspirational

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- career building
- personal development
- adversity

Key Concepts

philosophy human nature agency

Questions to Reflect On

- What resources do you have to shape your path?
- How do you turn constraints into opportunities?

A Different Perspective

Circumstances can limit options, making outcomes less purely personal.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Palaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palaces/)

## Related quotes

> [A man who builds his own pedestal had better use strong cement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/a-man-who-builds-his-own-pedestal-had-better-use-strong-cement/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [The man who builds a factory, builds a temple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/the-man-who-builds-a-factory-builds-a-temple/)

[Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/)

> [The man who builds, and wants wherewith to pay, Provides a home from which to run away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/the-man-who-builds-and-wants-wherewith-to-pay-provides-a-home-from/)

[Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/)

> [A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-builds-a-fine-house-and-now-he-has-a-master-and-a-task-for-life-2/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life: he is to furnish, watch, show it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-builds-a-fine-house-and-now-he-has-a-master-and-a-task-for-life/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what's on the other side?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-is-it-that-when-one-man-builds-a-wall-the-next-man-immediately/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [a man who builds a house never really dies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mahy/a-man-who-builds-a-house-never-really-dies/)

[Margaret Mahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mahy/)

> [Man builds no structure which outlives a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fitch-ware/man-builds-no-structure-which-outlives-a-book/)

[Eugene Fitch Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fitch-ware/)

> [Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/instead-of-saying-that-man-is-the-creature-of-circumstance-it-would-2/)

[Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/)

> [It is so rare as an actor to be allowed the chance to revisit a role and to go back to a character that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/it-is-so-rare-as-an-actor-to-be-allowed-the-chance-to-revisit-a-role/)

[Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/)

> [“Character built out of restrictions and boundaries can be deceiving.Be aware!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehnaz-ansari/character-built-out-of-restrictions-and-boundaries-can-be-deceiving/)

Mehnaz Ansari

> [I don't slot actors into the image of a character that's already built. I build characters by listening to the voice and the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takashi-miike/i-don-t-slot-actors-into-the-image-of-a-character-that-s-already/)

[Takashi Miike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takashi-miike/)

> [When what we want to do and what we ought to do are two different things, character is built in the choice we make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-what-we-want-to-do-and-what-we-ought-to-do-are-two-different/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I never thought I'd be anything, coming from a rough neighborhood. So my character was built on the street. I had to know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-hill/i-never-thought-i-d-be-anything-coming-from-a-rough-neighborhood-so/)

[George Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-hill/)

> [Language is the ticket to plot and character, after all, because both are built out of language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/language-is-the-ticket-to-plot-and-character-after-all-because-both/)

[Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/)

## More by George Henry Lewes

> [Heart and Brain are the two lords of life. In the metaphors of ordinary speech and in the stricter language of science, we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/heart-and-brain-are-the-two-lords-of-life-in-the-metaphors-of/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [It is unhappily true that much insincere Literature and Art, executed solely with a view to effect, does succeed by deceiving the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/it-is-unhappily-true-that-much-insincere-literature-and-art-executed/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [I have always considered The Merry Wives one of the worst plays, if not altogether the worst, that Shakespeare has left us. The wit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/i-have-always-considered-the-merry-wives-one-of-the-worst-plays-if/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [Literature is at once the cause and the effect of social progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/literature-is-at-once-the-cause-and-the-effect-of-social-progress/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [Science is the systematic classification of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/science-is-the-systematic-classification-of-experience/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [In complex trains of thought signs are indispensable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/in-complex-trains-of-thought-signs-are-indispensable/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [Literature is at once the cause and the effect of social progress. It deepens our natural sensibilities, and strengthens by exercise our intellectual capacities.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/literature-is-at-once-the-cause-and-the-effect-of-social-progress-it/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [If you feel yourself to be above the mass, speak so as to raise the mass to the height of your argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/if-you-feel-yourself-to-be-above-the-mass-speak-so-as-to-raise-the/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [The artist is called a creator...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/the-artist-is-called-a-creator/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [To some men popularity is always suspicious. Enjoying none themselves, they are prone to suspect the validity of those attainments which command it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/to-some-men-popularity-is-always-suspicious-enjoying-none-themselves/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [The art of writing is not, as many seem to imagine, the art of bringing fine phrases into rhythmical order, but the art of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/the-art-of-writing-is-not-as-many-seem-to-imagine-the-art-of-bringing/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [Literature delivers tidings of the world within and the world without.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/literature-delivers-tidings-of-the-world-within-and-the-world-without/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [If the members of a class do not understand -- if those directly addressed fail to listen, or listening, fail to recognize a power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/if-the-members-of-a-class-do-not-understand-if-those-directly/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [No man was ever eloquent by trying to be eloquent, but only by being so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/no-man-was-ever-eloquent-by-trying-to-be-eloquent-but-only-by-being-so/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

> [To love is for the Soul to choose a companion, and travel with it along the perilous defiles and winding ways of life; mutually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/to-love-is-for-the-soul-to-choose-a-companion-and-travel-with-it/)

[George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

[Explore all 109 George Henry Lewes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/)

## More Built quotes

> [It's really fun and challenging to build things that have never been built before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mason/it-s-really-fun-and-challenging-to-build-things-that-have-never-been/)

[Hilary Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mason/)

> [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/)

[Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/)

> [So I concentrated on the rhythmic side of things, and therefore left a lot of holes. I didn't want to use big pad chords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/midge-ure/so-i-concentrated-on-the-rhythmic-side-of-things-and-therefore-left-a/)

[Midge Ure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/midge-ure/)

> [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/)

[Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/)

> [Most startups are not just built for the person who is using them. When you do that, every now and then you get really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-shear/most-startups-are-not-just-built-for-the-person-who-is-using-them/)

[Emmett Shear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-shear/)

> [Call me the rap assassinator / rhymes rugged and built like Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raekwon/call-me-the-rap-assassinator-rhymes-rugged-and-built-like/)

[Raekwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raekwon/)

> [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/)

[Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/)

> [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/)

[Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/)

> [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/)

[R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/)

> [God and I have built an immense fire together. We keep each other happy and warm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/god-and-i-have-built-an-immense-fire-together-we-keep-each-other/)

[Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/)

> [When we built Roomba, we explicitly designed it to not have a face. We didn't want to think it was cute; we wanted people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-angle/when-we-built-roomba-we-explicitly-designed-it-to-not-have-a-face-we/)

[Colin Angle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-angle/)

> [Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. It's just an idea. Ninety-nine per cent never get built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/winning-a-competition-in-architecture-is-a-ticket-to-oblivion-it-s/)

[Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/)

> [Good churches are not built by bad men; at least, there must be probity and enthusiasm somewhere in the society. These minsters were neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/good-churches-are-not-built-by-bad-men-at-least-there-must-be-probity/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Mostly what I'm focused on is finding people who are younger who haven't built companies before but have a good idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hughes/mostly-what-i-m-focused-on-is-finding-people-who-are-younger-who/)

[Chris Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hughes/)

> [“Imagine what I could have done in ten years. I could have learned to speak Japanese. I could have played every RPG video game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/imagine-what-i-could-have-done-in-ten-years-i-could-have-learned-to/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

Browse all 3,164 Built quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Henry Lewes"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/character-is-built-out-of-circumstances-from-exactly-the-same/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Built"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/character-is-built-out-of-circumstances-from-exactly-the-same/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/george-henry-lewes-4544_built_character-is-built-out-of-circumstances_1248212.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces, while…” — George Henry Lewes",
                "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 Henry Lewes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Character is built out of circumstances....",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/character-is-built-out-of-circumstances-from-exactly-the-same/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/character-is-built-out-of-circumstances-from-exactly-the-same/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
