Recent posts with limited characters

Anybody knows how can i put a limit of characters that appear on Recent Posts? When i add a long tittle my footer stays terrible! The code i use is:

<?php query_posts(‘showposts=3’); ?>
<ul class=”recent-posts”>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
# ” rel=”bookmark” title=”<?php _e(‘Permanent link to’); ?> <?php the_title(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?>

<?php endwhile;?>

I’ve tried some plugins but nothing works. Please help me!!

Ps: sorry about my english, i’m brazilian ??