The German philosopher Immanuel Kant said, "Character means that the person derives his rules of conduct from himself and from the dignity of humanity. Character is the common ruling principle in man in the use of his talents and attributes. Thus it is the nature of his will, and is good or bad. A man who acts without settled principles, with no uniformity, has no character. A man may have a good heart and yet no character, because he is dependent upon impulses and does not act according to maxims. Firmness and unity of principle are essential to character."
But why does one need a "character" ?
Nobody can force us to do anything. A person practically has infinite freedom to be as he pleases to be, to do what he wants to do. Sometimes our actions, owing to our infinite freedom, lead us to troubled waters and at that time we again have a choice - accept the mistake and face the consequence or continue to justify our actions as right, and move on. We are going to be presented with choices at every step of our lives and we always have to choose one. And that could be dangerous as we potentially can justify all the choices we make ! We could get lost in our justifications so badly that one day we could end up committing a mistake which we would gravely regret. So, what is the one thing that can guide us, well almost always, in making the right choice, so that we don't end up in a helpless, regretful situation ? Character ? But isn't character an end product of doing "something" and if that's the case, it certainly cannot be used as a vehicle to resolve the issue in hand - "how to make the right choice." The only guiding blocks which we can refer to at such times are our principles. Our principles are the only clear sign posts that we can safely rely on when we are delirious with tempting, but dangerous choices. They force you to question your acts. Our principles infact answer the fundamental questions: "who we are", "what we do" and "where do we want to go."
But why does one need a "character" ?
Nobody can force us to do anything. A person practically has infinite freedom to be as he pleases to be, to do what he wants to do. Sometimes our actions, owing to our infinite freedom, lead us to troubled waters and at that time we again have a choice - accept the mistake and face the consequence or continue to justify our actions as right, and move on. We are going to be presented with choices at every step of our lives and we always have to choose one. And that could be dangerous as we potentially can justify all the choices we make ! We could get lost in our justifications so badly that one day we could end up committing a mistake which we would gravely regret. So, what is the one thing that can guide us, well almost always, in making the right choice, so that we don't end up in a helpless, regretful situation ? Character ? But isn't character an end product of doing "something" and if that's the case, it certainly cannot be used as a vehicle to resolve the issue in hand - "how to make the right choice." The only guiding blocks which we can refer to at such times are our principles. Our principles are the only clear sign posts that we can safely rely on when we are delirious with tempting, but dangerous choices. They force you to question your acts. Our principles infact answer the fundamental questions: "who we are", "what we do" and "where do we want to go."
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