Character is that of which reputation is but the echo, often mistaken
and misleading. Character is the last, the ultimate, value of life.
It is the trend of the whole being towards the best. It is the passion
and power that holds one true despite all persuasion.

It is the one thing worth having, because upon it all other values
depend. The wealth of the whole world still leaves poor him from whom
the soul, the power to appreciate, the purity of heart which sees God
and the good, the peace and quietness of a good conscience, have fled.
When we turn away from our fighting for fame and our grinding for gold
long enough to think, then we know that the things within determine
wholly the value and reality of all things without.

The wise ever have set this treasure above all others. Happy the
people that love righteousness more than revenue, the way of virtue,
the clear eye, the upward look, and the approval of a good conscience
above all other prosperity or advantage. The days of national
greatness ever have been those when the things that make manhood bulked
far above all other considerations. Alike to people and individuals,
the imperishable value ever has been that of character.

This asset comes not to a man by accident. He who is rich in
character, whose success in many ways is built upon his resources in
this way, does not just simply happen to be good, true, and square.
There is a price to character; it costs more than any other thing, for
it is worth more than all other things. Essentially it never is
inherited, but always acquired by processes often slow and toilsome and
at great price.

If you would be perfect you must pay the price of perfection. Unless