--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The character that lasts is an ordinary…" description: "\"The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.\" — Raymond Chandler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg" --- # The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some… ![“The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.” quote by Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg) > “The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.” [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Enduring characters are ordinary people who possess exceptional traits that set them apart. **In simple terms:** Ordinary people with special qualities endure. Key Takeaway Develop and showcase your unique strengths. Themes character resilience ordinary heroism Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - leadership - team dynamics - personal branding - creative projects - adversity Key Concepts literature psychology heroic archetype Questions to Reflect On - What extraordinary quality do you bring? - How can you nurture hidden strengths? A Different Perspective Ordinary traits may be undervalued without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Character Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-lasts-4309475/) [Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary/) [Extraordinary Qualities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraordinary-qualities-4309478/) [Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guy/) [Guy Extraordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guy-extraordinary-4309477/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Lasts Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts-ordinary-4309476/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Ordinary Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-guy-464194/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ## Related quotes > [I'm an ordinary guy with an extraordinary job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/i-m-an-ordinary-guy-with-an-extraordinary-job/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [It's no great achievement to go along with the crowd. Be the unusual guy, the extraordinary guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-hardy/it-s-no-great-achievement-to-go-along-with-the-crowd-be-the-unusual/) [Darren Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-hardy/) > [The problem with Maigret is he hasn't got a limp, and he hasn't got a lisp, and he hasn't got a French accent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-atkinson/the-problem-with-maigret-is-he-hasn-t-got-a-limp-and-he-hasn-t-got-a/) [Rowan Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-atkinson/) > [“Clay sat up, swinging a leg over Jeff's body to straddle him. He grabbed both wrists and pinned them by Jeff's head, bending closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catt-ford/clay-sat-up-swinging-a-leg-over-jeff-s-body-to-straddle-him-he/) [Catt Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catt-ford/) > [Consultant: an ordinary guy more than 50 miles from home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-sevareid/consultant-an-ordinary-guy-more-than-50-miles-from-home/) [Eric Sevareid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-sevareid/) > [Consultant: any ordinary guy more than fifty miles from home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-sevareid/consultant-any-ordinary-guy-more-than-fifty-miles-from-home/) [Eric Sevareid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-sevareid/) > [I'm not a star, and I don't want to be a star. Stars fall. I'm an ordinary guy with an extraordinary job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/i-m-not-a-star-and-i-don-t-want-to-be-a-star-stars-fall-i-m-an/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [They see me as an ordinary guy, like a construction worker or the guy who delivers your piano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-gable/they-see-me-as-an-ordinary-guy-like-a-construction-worker-or-the-guy/) [Clark Gable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-gable/) > [An ordinary guy who caters to me and is always by my side is better than a prince who waves to me from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wonderful-life/an-ordinary-guy-who-caters-to-me-and-is-always-by-my-side-is-better/) [Wonderful Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wonderful-life/) > [There is nothing special about Tim Scott. I'm an ordinary guy serving an extraordinary God and that makes the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-scott/there-is-nothing-special-about-tim-scott-i-m-an-ordinary-guy-serving/) [Tim Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-scott/) > [“I'm just ordinary guy, ordinary family, ordinary education, ordinary face, ordinary exam results, ordinary thought in my head”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-m-just-ordinary-guy-ordinary-family-ordinary-education-ordinary/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [You would be amazed what the ordinary guy knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-drudge/you-would-be-amazed-what-the-ordinary-guy-knows/) [Matt Drudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-drudge/) > [I always thought that one day I would be somebody. I would be successful in music, and I would have fans that cared about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/i-always-thought-that-one-day-i-would-be-somebody-i-would-be/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [I'm an ordinary guy serving an extraordinary God - and that makes the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-scott/i-m-an-ordinary-guy-serving-an-extraordinary-god-and-that-makes-the/) [Tim Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-scott/) > [“I am just an ordinary guy with a high internet profile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/i-am-just-an-ordinary-guy-with-a-high-internet-profile/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) ## More by Raymond Chandler > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/there-is-no-trap-so-deadly-as-the-trap-you-set-for-yourself/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [ “Hammett was the ace performer... He is said to have lacked heart; yet the story he himself thought the most of \[The Glass Key\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/hammett-was-the-ace-performer-he-is-said-to-have-lacked-heart-yet-the/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [She jerked away from me like a startled fawn might, if I had a startled fawn and it jerked away from me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/she-jerked-away-from-me-like-a-startled-fawn-might-if-i-had-a/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/a-good-story-cannot-be-devised-it-has-to-be-distilled/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Dashiell Hammett took murder out of theVenetian vase and dropped it into the alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/dashiell-hammett-took-murder-out-of-thevenetian-vase-and-dropped-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [ “He \[James Cain\] is every kind of writer I detest...a Proust in greasy overalls, a dirty little boy with a piece of chalk and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/he-james-cain-is-every-kind-of-writer-i-detest-a-proust-in-greasy/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/it-was-a-blonde-a-blonde-to-make-a-bishop-kick-a-hole-in-a-stained/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“I had been stalking the bluebottle fly for five minutes, waiting for him to sit down. He didn't want to sit down. He just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-had-been-stalking-the-bluebottle-fly-for-five-minutes-waiting-for/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“A three-piece Mexican band was making the kind of music a Mexican band always makes. Whatever they play, it all sounds the same. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/a-three-piece-mexican-band-was-making-the-kind-of-music-a-mexican/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/mostly-i-just-kill-time-he-said-and-it-dies-hard/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“The book was not new. Dates were stamped on the front endpaper, in and out dates. A rent book. A lending library of elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-book-was-not-new-dates-were-stamped-on-the-front-endpaper-in-and/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Without magic, there is no art. Without art, there is no idealism. Without idealism, there is no integrity. Without integrity, there is nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/without-magic-there-is-no-art-without-art-there-is-no-idealism/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“The homicide skipper that year was a Captain Gregorius, a type of copper that is getting rarer but by no means extinct, the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-homicide-skipper-that-year-was-a-captain-gregorius-a-type-of/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) [Explore all 430 Raymond Chandler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Raymond Chandler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary-guy-with-some-extraordinary/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary-guy-with-some-extraordinary/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/raymond-chandler-629_character_the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary_2929393.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.” — Raymond Chandler", "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": "Raymond Chandler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The character that lasts is an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary-guy-with-some-extraordinary/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-character-that-lasts-is-an-ordinary-guy-with-some-extraordinary/#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 } } ] } ```