"I'm a true believer that you have a moral obligation to keep your employees honest, and that is why you have controls, so I'm never tempted or put in a position where I could do something to defraud my employer."

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on character by Frank Abagnale resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in character is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Frank Abagnale

Frank William Abagnale Jr. is an American-French con man, convicted felon, author, and security consultant whose documented crimes consist primarily of cheque fraud and petty theft targeting individuals and small businesses. He later became famous for claiming that, while still a teenager, he impersonated a Pan American World Airways pilot, physician, lawyer, and university professor while traveling internationally and passing millions of dollars in fraudulent checks. These claims formed the basis of his 1980 autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, co-written with Stan Redding. The book inspired the film of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002, in which Abagnale was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, and later a Broadway musical adaptation.

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Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the ShortQuote Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by Frank Abagnale

"I was just a guy who ran away from home at 16 because my parents were getting a divorce and the judge was making me choose which parent to live with. I didn't want to make that choice. I ended up in New York City."

— Frank Abagnale
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"Why do the Yankees always win? The other team can't stop looking at the pinstripes."

— Frank Abagnale
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"Whether you're earning $7 an hour or $700,000 a year, it's very important to protect your credit rating."

— Frank Abagnale
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"When people ask me about being portrayed onscreen by Leonardo DiCaprio, I always say, 'I love it - no matter how old I get, people are going to think that's what I look like.'"

— Frank Abagnale
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More about Character

"The accumulation of numbers always augments in some measure moral corruptions, and the consequences to health of the various vices incident thereto, are well known."

— William Falconer
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"In all secrets there is a kind of guilt, however beautiful or joyful they may be, or for what good end they may be set to serve. Secrecy means evasion, and evasion means a problem to the moral mind."

— Gilbert Parker
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"I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long."

— Richard Russo
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"The hypothesis of surviving intelligence and personality - not only surviving but anxious and able with difficulty to communicate - is the simplest and most straightforward and the only one that fits all the facts."

— Oliver Joseph Lodge
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