Character

What is character?

It is rightly said, “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. When a character is lost, everything is lost.” It is because the character is the man.

What is character? It is very difficult to describe the virtues implied in the simple word “Character.” Character comprises the sum total of a man’s personality. If that sum total is good, we can say that such a one has a good character. But if the sum total is bad, we have to say that such a one has a doubtful character. Sometimes, and that is the case with many people these days, we find the sum totally mysterious or difficult to count or understand. Then we find it difficult to arrive at a conclusion and the perception of such a person’s character remains mysterious to us.

Generally, when we say about a man is a man of character, we mean that he has all such virtues as truthfulness, honesty, high ethical and moral sense, sympathy, sincerity, and love for his fellow beings, and so on. Such a person is a dependable one.

We should remember that the following things are of utmost importance in man’s life.

(i) Reliability (ii) (Inner) strength. (iii) Transparency (iv) Honesty, despite the possibility of making mistakes (v) (Graceful) Acknowledgment of one’s mistakes (vi) Capacity to profit from one’s mistakes. The voice of such a person carries weight, and he is heard and listened and others are convinced with his arguments. A great man has said – (i) He is a wise man who learns from his own mistakes (experience). (ii) He is even wiser who learns from others’ mistakes (experience) (iii) He, however, is a fool who learns neither from his own nor from others’ experiences.

It is good to be a scholar. But that is not enough. It is said that Ravana was an extraordinary genius. Yet, he fell prey to lust and abducted Sita. Dr. Faustus was a great scholar. But the lust for more and more knowledge led him to his doom. On the other hand, Gandhiji was not a bright student. Yet, he took great care of his character and rose to become a great man. Even Einstein’s teacher is said to have told him that all his life, he could not learn to count the number up to twenty. But, we know, to what heights Einstein rose later in life. It is said that Churchill, as a boy was such a nuisance to his school that when he left the school, a half-day holiday was declared in the school as a matter of celebration of the occasion.

Character vs good intentions

It is said that the way to hell is paved with good intentions. It simply means that even good intentions can sometimes lead man astray. In other words, even good intentions are not enough. One has to be very alert and cautious. It is rightly said that one should not only be honest but also seem to be honest.

However, a true man of character is not concerned with what others think of him. Walt Whitman, the famous American poet, said in one of his poems that a true hero can withstand the onslaught of a million suns or universes. Gandhiji has also expressed a similar idea about a true man of character. In her radio speech on the sad death of Gandhiji, Sarojini Naidu rightly said that Gandhiji was unsusceptible to censure or praise. He was above board. Indeed, every man of character is above board. Those who love God, act to please God, their master. They are not swayed by temptations, intimidations or fickle expressions of the people.

Character certificate

Today, at the time of an appointment, every young person has to produce a character certificate. That is a manifestation of the perennial value of character.

To have a good moral character, we should not only do no evil but also think no evil. This is what Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore advises us in one of his prose poems:

“I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart…”