Without Character

Talent without character is always a cause of concern. Anything without character is a cause of concern: money without character, authority without character, power, personality, eloquence, beauty without character, marriage without character, knowledge, teaching without character, weapons, even bare hands without character, even life⎯anything without character is a cause of concern. “Men may know what is right,” said Samuel Smiles, “and yet fail… to do it; they may understand… duty… but… not summon… the resolution to perform it…. Many purposes… end merely in words; deeds intended, that are never done;” and all for want of character. “There are those who are ready to be unprincipled and unjust rather than unpopular… Consciences have become more elastic…. So many persons… disappoint the expectations of their friends. They march up to the scene of action, but at every step their courage oozes out….” There are those who “spend their time in debating just how wrong things are, which, whether they be more or less wrong,… [they] know that it is not for them to do.” It is wasteful to sit by until we have decided “just whether the thing is wrong, and just how wrong it is.” We need standards, courage, commitments⎯and character to keep them. “Who are the men who have succeeded in the best way?” asked Phillips Brooks. “They are men who… [knew that] they had their own duties,… their own work to do, and [found a] way to do it;…” Talent without character, beauty, money, power, influence, eloquence⎯anything without character⎯is a hazard and a cause of concern. Character will always be found the best safeguard of virtue⎯and of all else that makes life safe and satisfying.