118 Complex Characters Quotes

Following is our list of complex characters quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about what is character.

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Famous Complex Characters Quotes

Action is character. — Unknown

A man with a so-called character is often a simple piece of mechanism; he has often only one point of view for the extremely complicated relationships of life. — J. August Strindberg

I think books with weak or translucent plots can survive if the character being drawn along the path is rich, interesting and multi-faceted. The opposite is not true. — Michael Connelly

Character is power. — Booker T. Washington

I think anybody would be hard pressed not to relate to at least one of the characters, because there's so many different multifaceted people populating this crazy world. — Michael C. Hall

A character is defined by the kinds of challenges he cannot walk away from. And by those he has walked away from that cause him remorse. — Arthur Miller

Animals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga -- stylized because even the most acute of them have little leeway as they play out their parts. — Edward Hoagland

The complexity of the world cannot be reduced down to simple narratives or binary thinking. — Bret Weinstein

The world is full of fictional characters looking for their stories - Diane Arbus

The world is full of fictional characters looking for their stories — Diane Arbus

It's our challenges and obstacles that give us layers of depth and make us interesting. — Ellen DeGeneres

Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form. — Jean Luc Godard

We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities. — Norman Vincent Peale

Sometime reality is too complex. Stories give it form. — Jean-Luc Godard

Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters. — Cassandra Clare

The life of a character should be an unbroken line of events and emotions, but a play only gives us a few moments on that line - we must create the rest to portray a convincing life. — Constantin Stanislavski

Short Complex Characters Quotes

  • Show me a character whose life arouses my curiosity, and my flesh begins crawling with suspense. — Fawn M. Brodie
  • Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed. — Benjamin Disraeli
  • Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries. — James A. Michener
  • Character is long-standing habit. — Plutarch
  • I'm drawn to characters who bear similarities to the protagonists in myths and legends. (...) — Alan Lee
  • Character is to man what carbon is to steel. — Napoleon Hill
  • For a long time, I've loved the kind of characters who are boastful yet petty. — Akira Toriyama
  • It is easier to influence strong than weak characters in life. — Margot Asquith

Complex Characters Image Quotes

Complex characters quote We are what we believe we are.
We are what we believe we are.

Complex Characters Quotes

Imperfections are beautiful. They are the window into a person's complexity, depth, and character. — Lex Fridman

I love to start characters in a place where you think you know them. We can make all kinds of assumptions about them and think they have no redeeming qualities, but like everyone, they're complex. — Callie Khouri

Normally, we see characters that have God complexes. How interesting, I thought, it would be to capitalize on that. And say, OK, well fine, you have a God complex, well this person has a Satan complex. And the doctor chooses to treat him scientifically. — Eriq La Salle

Complex characters quote You're a work of art. Not everyone will understand you, but the ones who do, will never forget about
You're a work of art. Not everyone will understand you, but the ones who do, will never forget about you.

In the case of complex personalities the matter stands thus: one of these can understand other men better than they can understand themselves, because within himself he has not only the character he is grasping, but also its opposite. Duality is necessary for observation and comprehension. — Otto Weininger

'Heroine' is about a declining and imbalanced superstar - a very brave and bold role. I wanted to test whether I could carry a role like this. I have given 200 per cent to this role. She's a very complex character, very aggressive, manipulative and bold, yet she's very fragile. — Kareena Kapoor

There's a remarkable amount of sexism on TV. When male characters are flawed, they're interesting, deep and complex. But when female characters are flawed, they're just a mess. It's good to put more flawed but interesting female characters out there because it promotes equality. — Ellen Pompeo

Complex characters quote When someone disrespects you, beware the impulse to win their respect. For disrespect is not a valua
When someone disrespects you, beware the impulse to win their respect. For disrespect is not a valuation of your worth but a signal of their character.

I like to play complex characters and the duality, and trying to reach for the light, it's more interesting really. I've gotten to play so many types of guys and I just try to find the humanity in each one of them the best I can. — Forest Whitaker

I think I'm drawn to characters with complexity or who are under duress in some way and have some conflict going on. — Emily Blunt

A writing teacher once told me that the most successful movies and books were simple plots about complex characters. You should be able to articulate your concept in a couple of lines. — James Scott Bell

Roddenberry had created quite a complex and at times mysterious character. Guarded, cautious, careful in showing his feelings in expressing his ideas about many things - I found that very interesting. — Patrick Stewart

What Is Character Quotes

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. — John Wooden

The most important ingredient of leadership is character. Most of the proficiencies can be learned, but what's inside you is something that's difficult to change. — Jesse Robredo

The issue for my character, and the issue of the show is, how dirty do your feet have to get without suffocating yourself in the mud in order to get an inch of what you really want done? — Bradley Whitford

Character is made by what you stand for; reputation by what you fall for. - Alexander Woollcott

Character is made by what you stand for; reputation by what you fall for. — Alexander Woollcott

The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become. — Heraclitus

Freedom is what we all seek, but it's what we do with that freedom that ultimately defines our character. In the end, a man's character cements his fate, good or bad. — Sonny Barger

Complex characters quote A mistake that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant.
A mistake that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant.

The ultimate is not to win, but to reach within the depths of your capabilities and to compete against yourself to the greatest extent possible. When you do that, you have dignity. You have the pride. You can walk about with character and pride no matter in what place you happen to finish. — Billy Mills

I’m not good-looking. I used to be, but not anymore. Not like Robert Taylor. What I have got is I have character in my face. It’s taken an awful lot of late nights and drinking to put it there. When I go to work in a picture, I say, ‘Don’t take the lines out of my face. Leave them there.’ — Humphrey Bogart

I admire men of character and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates. And that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is. — Norman Schwarzkopf

Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God's motives, but in understanding His character, in trusting in His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Character Matters Quotes

We are all in this world together, and the only test of our character that matters is how we look after the least fortunate among us. How we look after each other, not how we look after ourselves. That's all that really matters, I think. — Tommy Douglas

Gifts and abilities, no matter how magnificent, are either limited or enhanced by character. — John Wimber

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better. — William James

Complex characters quote Accept both compliments and criticism. It takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.
Accept both compliments and criticism. It takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.

Manliness consists not in bluff, bravado or loneliness. It consists in daring to do the right thing and facing consequences whether it is in matters social, political or other. It consists in deeds not words. — Mahatma Gandhi

Americanism is a question of principle, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent. — Theodore Roosevelt

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it. — Robert H. Schuller

Complex characters quote To be yourself in a world that in constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accom
To be yourself in a world that in constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

It is scary for an actor when you get hired as a lead. No matter what the plot is, it is your job to do something interesting enough to make them want to get inside the lead character's head. — Tom Selleck

I believe no amount of business school training or work experience can teach what is ultimately a matter of personal character. Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership. — S. Truett Cathy

The peculiar striations that define someone's personality are too numerous to know, no matter how close the observer. A person we think we know can suddenly become someone else when previously hidden strands of his character are called to the fore by circumstance. — Elliot Perlman

No matter what name we give it or how we judge it, a candidate's character is central to political reporting because it is central to a citizen's decision in voting. — Roger Mudd

Dynamic Characters Quotes

Saiyans don't have much of a concept of 'family.' — Akira Toriyama

Cognitive and character skills work together as dynamic complements; they are inseparable. Skills beget skills. More motivated children learn more. Those who are more informed usually make wiser decisions. — James Heckman

These two opposed forms of social organization, the modern state and the market, have evolved together through recent centuries, and their mutual interactions have become increasingly crucial to the character and dynamics of international relations in our world. — Robert Gilpin

Complex characters quote There is a battle of two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment
There is a battle of two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth. The wolf that wins? The one you feed.

The distinctive contribution that metaphysics makes to our understanding of reality is first that it considers questions about features of reality that the sciences don't, such as the intrinsic nature of causation or the dynamic character of temporal experience. — L.A. Paul

We would choreograph [ with Paul Dano] before each scene [in Swiss Army Man] and very quickly got to a place where we could improvise physically in scene and know that the other person would respond in character appropriately. So that [dynamic] was a lot of fun. — Daniel Radcliffe

Don't be didactic - don't write about poverty. Write about poor people. When you dramatize their lives and let life and characters be your inspiration, you will express the 'idea' dynamically and without preaching. — Robert McKee

Complex characters quote Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior, but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, uncomp
Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior, but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, uncomparable. You are You, I am I.

The faculty of continual transformation... is a profound expression of the dynamic character of the mind — Anagarika Govinda

The great thing was that as soon as Aidan and I met we clicked, we instantly knew we were going to get along and the more time we spend together, the more we’ve developed a brotherly bond that’s helped us figure out the dynamic of our characters. — Dean O'Gorman

In the courageous standing of uncertainty, faith shows most visibly its dynamic character. — Paul Tillich

I always think change is important in a character. The most dynamic choices that you can make for a character are always the best ones. — Peter Sarsgaard

Interesting Characters Quotes

God is more concerned with conforming me to the likeness of His Son than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more interested in inward qualities than outward circumstances - things like refining my faith, humbling my heart, cleaning up my thought life and strengthening my character. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I'm personally not terribly interested in designing wholesome characters, so I don't have many variations to offer. — Akira Toriyama

We all lose our looks eventually, better develop your character and interest in life. — Jacqueline Bisset

Complex characters quote Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.

Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away. — Charles Dickens

I am always more interested in performance and character depiction, and my direction says as much. — Lasse Hallstrom

Yes. He is quite a good fellow - nobody's enemy but his own. — Charles Dickens

Complex characters quote Remind yourself that you cannot fail at being yourself.
Remind yourself that you cannot fail at being yourself.

A tree against the sky possesses the same interest, the same character, the same expression as the figure of a human. — Georges Rouault

I leapt eagerly into books. The characters’ lives were so much more interesting than the lonely heartbeat of my own. — Ruta Sepetys

I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies. — Charles Dickens

I want to do a little bit of everything. I love sci-fi. I think it's more the characters that draw me towards things. I like strong women. I'm very interested in futuristic stuff, anything. — Sabrina Lloyd

People Writing About Complex Characters

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Unknown

Unknown
quotes on life, gratitude and happiness

1801 14881
Read quotes by J. August Strindberg

J. August Strindberg

15 205
Read quotes by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly
quotes on leadership, life and love

78 176
Read quotes by Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington
quotes on slavery, success and education

126 3730
Read quotes by Michael C. Hall

Michael C. Hall
quotes on leadership, education and michael c hall

22 187
Read quotes by Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller
quotes on marilyn monroe, crucible and life

213 1212

More Complex Characters Quotes

Sharpe is my favorite role of all that I've played. He's a very complex character. He knows that he's a good soldier, but he will always have to fight the prejudice of aristocratic officers because of his rough working-class upbringing. On the battlefield, he's full of confidence - but off it, he is unsure, a bit shy and ill at ease. — Sean Bean

Whereas Schaeffer and Henry were working like samplers, their idea was to capture those sounds which couldn't be serially calibrated because they were too complex in character. — Luc Ferrari

I know I'm not normal in this, but [ Severus ] Snape is absolutely my favorite character in the Harry Potter books. He is completely mortal - good, bad, strong, weak, motivated by hatred, motivated by love. A gorgeous, compelling, complex character who definitely earns a spot at my table. — Megan Chance

As we mature and grow older we collect a lot of baggage, and a lot of that stuff you collect on life's journey gets in the way of acting. My kids can imagine a character and transform in the blink of an eye. It's so simple for kids, so complex for adults. — David Wenham

I think you can always find interesting, complex and fascinating characters to play in different kinds of movies. It's in your hands. — Anton Yelchin

Do you see that kitten chasing so prettily her own tail? If you could look with her eyes, you might see her surrounded with hundreds of figures performing complex dramas, with tragic and comic issues, long conversations, many characters, many ups and downs of fate. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quite often my narrator or protagonist may be a man, but I'm not sure he's the more interesting character, or if the more complex character isn't the woman. — Ann Beattie

It's something that people relate to - and I hope my kid doesn't relate to - but there's a level of believability in playing complex characters. You know, Christopher Walken has done some hilarious comedies, De Niro. There's great room for complexity and darkness to do well in comedies. — Jeremy Sisto

I enjoy bringing humanity to complex characters. — Isaiah Washington

Madame Bovary is timeless. It is not just about the female condition in France in the 1840s. It's not a simple cautionary tale. Emma is more than a character; she gives us an insight into human nature. With Emma, we are diving into the complexities of Flaubert's psyche. — Sophie Barthes

The prince in The Leopard was a very complex character - at times autocratic, rude, strong - at times romantic, good, understanding - and sometimes even stupid, and above all, mysterious. — Luchino Visconti

Writing a children's book means you cannot spin out long narratives or have complex character development. — Norman Macleod

Goering was a contradictory [and] complex ... character. — Richard Overy

Because of mathematics precise, formal character, mathematical arguments remain sound even when they are long and complex. In contast, common sense arguments can generally be trusted only if they remain short; even moderately long nonmathematical arguments rapidly becomes farfetched an dubious. — Jacob T. Schwartz

Don't accept the excuse of complexity. A lot of people will tell you, this is too challenging, this is too complicated, yeah well I know other people simplify but that's not for me, this is a complicated business. They're wrong. You can change the world in 140 characters. — Keith Rabois

Sometimes I make my life a living hell by writing complex stories with complex characters. But I love it. — Kevin James

Literature ultimately helps one to ground a deeper and wider outlook. An over-directed life without the inner resource to step outside of itself is closed to other beauties and the complexities of character and world. — Gwee Li Sui

It's a treat to portray a complex character. Besides... where else could I find a job where emotional outbursts and odd exclamations like 'Egad!', 'Narf!', 'Poit!', 'Splonk!' and 'Zort!' are allowed? — Rob Paulsen

I need to react to a script, to feel strongly about it in some way. And I need it to be a complex character for sure. And also, I think a lot about what kind of audience there is for the film, what they're looking for and ways to connect with them in the playing of a character. — Jeremy Renner

Magneto has a whole lot of complexity to him. Emotionally, he's coming from a very damaged place. I like the ambivalence of it. I want the audience leaving the theater wondering, asking the questions themselves rather than being spoon-fed like a lot of these super-villain characters. — Michael Fassbender

I try to pick characters that I find interesting and complex and that I feel I can bring something of myself to. — Aaron Stanford

The idea that you might end up in a job that doesn't allow you to be who you are, over the course of a lifetime, is still one of the most chilling nightmares to me. It's a good metaphor for fears I have about losing my soul in some accidental, mundane way. So, to me, these jobs that my characters have are very loaded. They immediately suggest a complex character to me, a woman who is, say, a secretary, but also a vigilante on behalf of her own soul. — Miranda July

Every actor will tell you it's so much more fun to play the bad guy because usually those characters are more complex and more broad and more interesting, and have more sides to them. — Michael Vartan

I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters. — Conrad Hall

My hope is that I'm going to continue to make more and more challenging work that's going to come out more and more interesting. I don't know if that will always continue to happen, but every one of my films has definitely been a progression as far as complexity of narrative, character, and plot. — Darren Aronofsky

I like complex characters. I've been very, very lucky to portray, in these past three years, characters that are strong and fragile at the same time. It's those characters that I'm looking for. In the last year and half I played three different religions, and that allowed me to educate myself so much. — Moran Atias

It doesn't matter how complex your plot or your characters are; you have to be able to express the big idea of a film in a sentence or two. — Gurinder Chadha

I've always thought darker characters were more fun to play. They're probably not any more complex or interesting than their good, law-abiding cousins, and I'd always tend to see things from their point of view. — Aidan Gillen

I'm intrigued more and more by complex female characters because I'm more in touch with myself. I realize how screwed up or complex I am. And I'm flattered that, little by little, more and more directors want to meet me. — Diane Kruger

It's a complex thing when you're writing a novel, because so much of it is conscious and planned and deliberate, and so much of it is not, and it has to be a dance between the conscious and the unconscious. I bring my best instincts to my work. For instance - and I come by this naturally, or I think I do - I am a very good judge of character. — Benjamin Alire Saenz

What I do is to collaborate with each actor and work one-on-one to create a character. And that is a matter of huge complexity and is a combination of a great deal of discussion and a lot of practical work. It involves a lot of consideration for the real people out there, and all kinds of sources of real people. The result is the character. But I'm not supposed to talk about what it is we do, because it's nobody's business. — Mike Leigh

Good people can do terrible things, and that's what life is all about, the complexities and grey areas. And often characters aren't written that way in movies, especially characters for women. So you end up being either one thing or the other. — Emily Mortimer

For me, the lives of children and teens are interesting - they are always changing. There's just so much to sort through. All of this makes for good plots and complex characters. — Renee Watson

I think as an actor, it's very exciting when you have a really fully realized, complex, multifaceted character already established. — Da'Vine Joy Randolph

When you're younger, you get scripts that you are too young for and now I'm getting scripts, which I think, "I'm too old for this character." They can always shift things around to make it work and make the ages work. But I'm definitely getting more complex and interesting roles and less what you would expect. So I can experiment more and have a bit more freedom when I'm putting things on tape. — Asa Butterfield

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