The Elements of Character | Page 2

thing left which misfortune cannot touch, which God is ever seeking to
aid us in building up, and over which he permits us to hold absolute

control; and this is Character. For this, and for this alone, we are
entirely responsible. We may fail in all else, let our endeavors be
earnest and patient as they may; but all other failures touch us only in
our external lives. If we have used our best endeavors to attain success
in the pursuit of temporal objects, we are not responsible though we fail.
But if we do not succeed in attaining true health and wealth and power
of Character, the responsibility is all our own; and the consequences of
our failure are not bounded by the shores of time, but stretch onward
through the limitless regions of eternity. If we strive for this, success is
certain, for the Lord works with us to will and to do. If we do not strive,
it were better for us that we had never been born.
Character is all we can take with us when we leave this world. Fortune,
learning, reputation, power, must all be left behind us in the region of
material things; but Character, the spiritual substance of our being,
abides with us for ever. According as the possessions of this world
have aided in building up Character,--forming it to the divine or to the
infernal image,--they have been cursings or blessings to the soul.
Before we can understand how Character is to be built up, we must
come to a distinct faith in its reality; we must learn to feel that it is
more real than anything else that we possess; for surely that which is
eternal is more real than that which is merely temporal; it may, indeed,
be doubted whether that which is merely temporal has any just claim to
be called real.
Many persons confound reputation with Character, and believe
themselves to be striving for the reality of the one, when the fantasy of
the other alone stimulates their desires. Reputation is the opinion
entertained of us by our fellow- beings, while Character is that which
we really are. When we labor to gain reputation, we are not even taking
a first step toward the acquisition of Character, but only putting on
coverings over that which is, and protecting it against improvement. As
well may we strive to be virtuous by thinking of the reward of heaven,
as to build up our Characters by thinking of the opinions of men. The
cases are precisely parallel. In each we are thinking of the pay as
something apart from the work, while, in fact, the only pay we can have
inheres in the doing of the work. Virtue is its own reward, because its
performance creates the kingdom of heaven within us, and we cannot
attain to virtue until we strive after it for its own sake.

A wisely trained Character never stops to ask, What will society think
of me if I do this thing, or if I leave it undone? The questions by which
it tests the quality of an action are, whether it is just, and wise, and
fitting, when judged by the eternal laws of right; and in accordance
with this judgment will its manifestations ever be made. If the mind
acquires the habit of deliberately asking and answering these questions
in regard to common affairs, it acquires, by degrees, distinct opinions in
relation to life, forming a regular system, in accordance with which the
Character is shaped and built up; and unless this be done, the Character
cannot become consistent and harmonious. It is never too late to begin
to do this; but the earlier in life it is done, the more readily the character
can be conformed to the standard of right which is thus established.
Every year added to life ere this is attempted, is an added impediment
to its performance; and until it is accomplished, there is no safety for
the Character, for each year is adding additional force to careless or evil
habits of thought and affection, and consequently of external life.
It is not going too far to say, that Character is the only permanent
possession we can have. It is in fact our spiritual body. All other mental
possessions are to the spiritual body only what clothing is to the natural
body,--something put on and taken off as circumstances vary. Character
changes from year to year as we cultivate or neglect it, and so does the
natural body; but these changes of the body are something very
different from the changes of our garments.
There is a transient and a permanent side to all our mental attributes.
Take, for instance, manners, which are the most external of them all. So
far