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Out
of our beliefs are born deeds; out of
our deeds we form
habits; out of our habits
grows our character; and on our
character
we build our destiny.
Henry
Hancock |
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character - character
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We never know how much one loves till we
know how much he or she is willing
to endure and suffer for us;
and it is the suffering element that measures love.
The
characters that are great must, of necessity, be
characters that shall be willing,
patient and strong to
endure for others. To hold our nature in the willing
service
of another is the divine idea of humanity, of the
human character.
Henry Ward Beecher
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There is a
spectacle more grand than the sea; it is heaven;
there is
a spectacle more grand than heaven; it is the conscience.
Victor
Hugo
I
am not bound to win but I am bound
to be true. I am not
bound to succeed
but I am bound to live up to what light
I have. I must stand with anybody
that stands right;
stand with them while
they are right and part with them when
they go wrong.
Abraham
Lincoln |
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| Whitney
Griswold
Self-respect
cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased.
It is never for
sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations.
It
comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet
places,
when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good,
we have done it;
knowing the beautiful, we have served it;
knowing the truth, we have spoken it. |
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The Village Blacksmith
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
Under
a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.
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He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
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A Time to
Talk
When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don't stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven't hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.
Robert Frost |
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The people who are worthy of being
leaders of
others will never
complain
about the stupidity of their helpers, the
ingratitude of human beings,
or the inappreciation of the
public. They are all a part of the great game of life.
To
meet them and overcome them and not go down before them
in disgust,
discouragement, or defeat, that is the final
proof of power.
William Boetcher |
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One's philosophy is
not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the
choices one makes. . . In the long run, we shape our
lives and we shape ourselves.
The process never ends
until we die. And the choices we make
are ultimately our
responsibility.
Eleanor
Roosevelt |
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Benjamin Franklin
Taxes
are indeed very heavy; but if those laid on by the
government
were the only ones we had to pay, we might
more easily discharge them;
but we have many others, and
much more grievous ones to some of us.
We are taxed quite
as heavily by idleness, three times as much by our pride,
and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes
the commissioners cannot easily deliver us by allowing an
abatement. |
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An honest
reputation is within the reach
of all people; they obtain it by social virtues,
and by doing their duty. This kind of
reputation, it is true, is neither brilliant
nor startling, but it is often
the most useful for happiness.
Charles
Pinot Duclos |
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To me,
the essence of keeping the soul nourished is obedience to
one's conscience. I don't think that the soul can
be nourished unless people have a strong sense of
conscience that they have educated and developed and
soaked in the universal and timeless principles of
integrity and service. This way, the individual's
soul becomes part of the universal soul of service,
contribution, and making a difference. |
Stephen R. Covey |
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| Charles Simmons
Integrity is the first
step to true greatness.
People love to praise, but are slow
to practice it.
To maintain it in high places costs self-denial;
in all places it is liable to opposition, but its end is
glorious,
and the universe will yet do it homage. |
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The real
difference between people is energy.
A strong will, a
settled purpose, an invincible determination,
can
accomplish almost anything;
and in this lies the
distinction between
great people and little people.
Thomas Fuller |
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There is too little idea of personal
responsibility;
too much of "the world owes me a
living,"
forgetting that if the world does owe you a
living,
you must be your own collector.
Theodore N. Vail |
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You cannot
believe in honor until you have achieved it.
Better keep yourself clean and bright;
you are the window through which
you must see the world.
George Bernard Shaw |
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The great secret of
success is to go through life as a person who never gets
used up.
That is possible for those who never argue
and strive with people and facts,
but in all experience
retires upon themselves,
and look for the ultimate cause of
things in themselves.
Albert
Schweitzer |
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When Orison
Swett Marden calls character "the grandest thing of
all," I think he's right on the mark. Our character
determines how we treat others, how we act in given
situations, how we treat ourselves. Our character shines
through to the world, and if we go through life without
strong character, it's clear to everyone that we're
lacking something vital. Ironically enough, the lack of
character seems to be precisely that which prohibits
those who have little character from realizing that they're
missing this important quality. Try telling a man who
abuses his family that he's abusing his family--more
often than not, you'll get a response that mixes anger
and indignance and self-righteousness, but little that
indicates a healthy sense of character.
Robert Duvall's
"character" in the movie The Apostle is such a person--a
murderer and a self-proclaimed womanizer who shows no
remorse at all for his acts. But he's among the worst of
the worst, for he hides behind his religion and his
"faith," justifying himself and rationalizing
his actions. The man has no character at all, yet he
presents a facade that fools many people and gets them to
believe that he has a great deal of character simply
because he's a "religious" man. He's a
frightening person in a world in which we hope to see
some truth, especially among Christians.
If I'm to have a
character that others admire, I need to focus on developing that
character. I need to make decisions that are honorable and
honest. I need to focus on others rather than myself. I
need to be consistent in my dealings with other (while being careful
to avoid what Emerson called "a foolish consistency").
I must obey the calls of my religious belief. And I must be true
to myself, my God, and others. I should never seek the
admiration of others, but if I develop an honest, loving, caring
character, the admiration will come.
Not easily,
though--there will be many people who won't like me, who feel
threatened or exposed by the fact that I'm trying hard to develop my
character. And I think that most of the negative feelings come
from those who know inside that they should be developing their own
character rather than indulging themselves in material goods or
entertainment or whatever else it is in which they indulge
themselves. But that's okay--I've been there. I've felt
threatened by those who have been trying to lead admirable lives,
mostly because I knew I ought to be doing the same thing.
The people like
Duval's character go along doing whatever they feel like doing and
rationalize afterwards, explaining away their actions with their
fabricated justifications. My goal in building my own character
is to reach a point at which I need neither to rationalize nor
justify. I hope to be able to say always that I acted according
to my conscience and that I was sure that my actions were in the best
interests of myself, other people, AND God. How I act is up to
me--what I do and what I say--and if I want to build a strong and
admirable character, I must be honest, forthright, and loving.
tdw
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Pride may be allowed to this
or that degree, else we cannot keep up our dignity.
In gluttony there must be eating,
in drunkenness there must be drinking:
'tis not
the eating, nor 'tis the drinking that is to be
blamed. So with pride.
John Selden |
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It is my custom every night, so soon as
the candle is out, to run over the words
and actions of the past day;
and I let nothing escape me, for why should I fear
the sight of my
errors when I can admonish and forgive myself?
I was a little too hot in such a dispute; my opinion
might well have been withheld,
for it gave offense and did no good.
The thing was true; but truths are not
to be spoken at all
times. I would I had held my tongue, for there is no contending,
either with fools or with our superiors. I have done ill, but it
shall be so no more.
Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and
at last we cannot break it.
Horace Mann
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We are only advancing in life, whose hearts
are
getting softer, our blood warmer, our brains quicker, and our spirits
entering into living peace.
John Ruskin |
An inexhaustible
good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading
itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the wind
smooth and equable in the roughest weather.
Washington
Irving |
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If there is
righteousness in the heart there will be beauty in the
character.
If there be beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is
harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation, there will be
peace in the world.
Anonymous |
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The
final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
Anne
Frank |
Stand
for something. Don't quest for popularity at the expense
of morality and ethics and honesty.
Howard
Cosell |
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To keep your character
intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts.
It makes it easier to
stoop the next time.
Katherine Hepburn |
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How many
cares one loses when one decides
not to be something
but to be
someone.
Gabrielle
"Coco" Chanel |
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One
exemplary act may affect one life, or even millions of lives.
All those who set standards for themselves, who strengthen the bonds
of community, who do their work creditably and accept
individual responsibility, are building the common future.
John W. Gardner |
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When
wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost,
something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
German
saying |
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