Samuel Adams Quotes

It is generally much more shameful to lose a good reputation than never to have acquired it.

Respect is not ever assigned; it's earned.

He who can live in infamy is unworthy of life.

On the whole, it is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.

The only respect you should have is the one you earn.

Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.

I'm more interested in being good than being famous.

Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow.

My character and good name are in my own keeping. Life with disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied.

The only shame is to have none.

Character is one of most precious parts of you. You can't get involved in things that will damage your character.

Character is better than ancestry, and personal conduct is of more importance than the highest.

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.

To be without silver is better than to be without honor.

All of us wish for a dignity that commands respect. But few have it.

Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost.

When the sacredness of one's word is matched in the attributes of his character throughout, all that constitutes a man, then we find that there is something in a man's life greater than his occupation or his achievements; grander than acquisition or wealth; higher than genius; more enduring than fame.

It's better to not have a reputation than a bad one.

Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue.

What is left when honor is lost?

I don't care what you say about me. Just spell the name right.

You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor.

I should have forfeited my own self-respect, and perhaps the good opinion of my countrymen, if I had failed to resent such an injury by calling the offender in question to a personal account.

Life every man holds dear; but the dear man holds honor far more precious dear than life.