A man’s character is what he really is. It is his real, moral condition. It has been defined as ‘the distinct mark of an individual’. It depends partly on inborn qualities, their training at youth, the circumstances they were brought up in and can be cultivated by the good habits formed at childhood. “Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character”. If we sow good habits, we build up good characters. If we allow bad habits to develop in us, our character becomes bad. It is therefore of great importance that children should be presented with the best models for imitation. Ideals of courage, truth, simplicity, honesty, and purity should be constantly placed before them to follow and live up to. We form good or bad habits not only in childhood, but later on as well. We all grow a little every day, for the better or for the worse. Therefore, it is needful that we watch ourselves daily.
What makes a good character? There are many qualities that make up a character. First comes truth. Lorde Averbury says, “But there is one quality it is essential without which a man is not a man without which no really great work was ever achieved-that is truth in the inward parts.”
Next comes justice. A man of good character should give out even-handed justice to all. But justice should be tempered with mercy. It is our duty, to be sweet and courteous. Sincerity, honesty, generosity, and purity in speech, thought and action- such virtues entitle a person to be called a man of good character.
Character is a very important factor in a man’s life. Good character is more important than health, wealth and happiness. “When the character is lost, everything is lost” is one hundred percent true. “Leaving aside the moral good that it does, as a mere question of getting on in the world, the character will do more for a man than cleverness.” We ought to be slow to judge others for none of us is wholly good nor wholly bad.
Adshayan Ganeshamoorthy
ENU2021
