Moral character
Moral character or
character is an evaluation of a person's
moral and
mental qualities. Such an evaluation is subjective — one person may evaluate someone's character on the basis of their
virtue, another may consider their
fortitude,
courage,
loyalty,
honesty, or
piety.
Developing true character happens when we focus on character qualities such as: truthfulness, diligence, obedience, loyalty and courage. Each quality overlaps the other. For example, you cannot be truthful and dishonest at the same time. Some character qualities, such as punctuality, can be developed through practice. To practice will require one to have discipline, which is also a desirable character quality.
What is true character? Character is the cumulative effect of the most desirable character qualities found in a person. Heroes exhibit traits such as self sacrifice and bravery. Heroes are men and women of exemplary character.
Some people consider character to be a mental choice. To improve or build someone's character (by whatever yard-stick you use) you must address their
intellect. Examples of this can be found in religious preaching,
sermons, lectures,
philosophy,
debate,
morality tales,
fables, and various works of
literature, treatises and tracts. Character can be taught through education; but the best teacher is the teacher's character.
Character is our Moral maturity and commitment to doing the right thing regardless of the personal cost. Character involves the will to respond to stimuli according to values and principles rather than to appetites, urges, whims, or impulses. We are not animals. Remember, leadership is character in action, and character development and leadership development are one. Leadership is doing the right thing. Character is doing the right thing.
Other people believe that there is a link between moral character and one's physical
body; improvement of the character may be sought through privation,
pain or other hardships. Examples of this are often found in religious life (
hermits,
Spartan conditions in
monasteries and nunneries,
flagellation and other self-mortification), and also in
corporal punishment, the pain of
childbirth, and restrictive
diets and
fasting.
Exemplary literature
This was a
genre in classical, medieval and Renaissance literature consisting of lives of famous figures, and using these (by emphasising good or bad character traits) to make a moral point. Examples include
*Suetonius's
De vita Caesarum or
Lives of the Twelve Caesars*
Plutarch's
Parallel Lives*
Jerome's
De viris illustribus*
Petrarch's
De viris illustribus*
Chaucer's
The Monk's Prologue and Tale and
Famous Women*
Boccacio's
On Famous Women and
Concerning the Falls of Illustrious Men*
Christine de Pizan's
The Book of the City of Ladies.
*
Personal development*
Character Improvement How Character may be improved naturally via a deep unterstanding of the virtues.
*
Concepts of moral character, historical and contemporary (Stanford Encyc. of Philosophy)
*
Cub Scouting Character Connections Program identifies 12 core
values: Citizenship, Compassion, Cooperation, Courage,
Faith, Health and Fitness, Honesty, Perseverance, Positive Attitude, Resourcefulness, Respect, Responsibility. Character can be defined as the collection of core values possessed by an individual that leads to moral commitment and action. Character is "values in action."
*
The Scout Law A
Scout is ... trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Several interpretations of those twelve important words followed by the Scout Law as it is said in other countries.
