DN20

On Determination of Character

[not dated] 

According to the average man: "Character is that grit or pluck by which a man raises himself in the world." But grit is not character. Pluck is not character. Many times what we call grit or pluck is a man's knowledge that he has all to gain and naught to lose in the battle of life. Many times it is but aggressiveness, and true character is made of better materials.      

According to the great scholar: "Character is positive." But character alone is not positive. Determination makes it so. Without determination Character is negative. It is possible that Character may sleep, but it takes determination to awaken. 

We know of good men of pleasing personality who never made any headway. That man was lacking in determination of character. We know of the good Christian who never seemed what he or she professed to be. That Christian was lacking in determination of character. Character is that which goes to make up the inner man, the inside force which commands and guides the outer man. Character is that which guides a man's thought, and as the thought is anterior to the deed, it must necessarily guide his deeds also.

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