“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle
“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character...” ~ Stephen R. Covey
"Thoughts lead on to purpose, purpose leads on to actions, actions form habits, habits decide character, and character fixes our destiny.” ~ Tryon Edwards
This is the second of ten articles that I am writing about character building. These articles are based on a booklet that was published in 1915 named "Character Building". Here are links to the first two articles in the series;
The Science of Character Building
The Common Good
The booklet believes that habit is an important part of character building. Habit has been defined as "an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary". This is what the booklet says about habit;
"What one gets in the habit of doing, becomes second nature.
If one is in the habit of telling the truth, it will become natural and easy to tell the truth.
If one is in the habit of telling falsehoods, the habit of doing so will grow, till a lie will often be told where the truth would answer the purpose much better.Habit is a cable; we weave a thread each day till it becomes so strong we cannot break it."
1 comment:
Hi Jeanette
This is my first visit to your blog. Not sure why since we have been Twitter friends for so long. I enjoyed your post, the look and feel of your blog and your entire arrangement with your linking etc. Looks fantastic.
My daughter is a special ed teacher and would enjoy this as well. You are so right about character building and habits especially when the little ones are still little ones. And, it's difficult to build character properly when parents are not "on the job" but out trying to keep up especially during this challenging economy.
I will be visiting often. Well done.
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