What is character? It is that quality of man which is going to make a man, in an hour of strain, do the just and, if possible, the generous thing.
Interpretation
Character is defined by our actions during challenging times, reflecting moral integrity and generosity.
In this quote, Douglas Southall Freeman emphasizes that true character is revealed when a person faces significant pressure or hardship. It is during these moments of strain that an individual's moral compass is tested, and the response—whether it is to act justly or generously—defines their essence and integrity as a human being.
In practice
This quote can be used during a leadership seminar to discuss the importance of character in decision-making under pressure.
Character is the essence of all that a man has seen in life and regards as high and exalted. Character is like truth: the substance of the things that a man has forgotten but the substance of the things that are worth remembering in life.
Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.
Is not anyone with any degree of mental honesty conscious of telling lies all day long, both in talking and writing, simply because lies will fall into artistic shape when truth will not?
Our jovial star reigned at his birth.
I wanted to write a commentary on the Bible, to write about the Talmud, about celebration, about the great eternal subjects: love and happiness.
It is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice. For they cannot live in any country where virtue and knowledge prevail. The religion and public liberty of a people are intimately connected; their interests are interwoven, they cannot subsist separately; and therefore they rise and fall together. For this reason, it is always observable, that those who are combin'd to destroy the people's liberties, practice every art to poison their morals.
The idea that myth is the opposite of knowledge, or the opposite of truth, is simply to disallow it. It is like saying poetry is the opposite of truth.
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