#hara

A person’s authentic nature is a series of shifting, variegated planes that establish themselves as he relates to different people; it is created by and appears within the framework of his interpersonal relationships. ↗

— Philip K. Dick

#nature

To that point, he had always found the vicomtesse overflowing with friendly politeness, that sweet-flowing grace conferred by an aristocratic education, and which is never truly there unless it comes, automatically and unthinkingly, straight from the heart. [...] For anyone who had learned the social code, and Rastignac had absorbed it all in a flash, these words, that gesture, that look, that inflection in her voice, summed up all there was to know about the nature and the ways of men and women of her class. He was vividly aware of the iron hand underneath the velvet glove; the personality, and especially the self-centeredness, under the polished manners; the plain hard wood, under all the varnish. [...] Eugène had been entirely too quick to take this woman's word for her own kindness. Like all those who cannot help themselves, he had signed on the dotted line, accepting the delightful contract binding both benefactor and recipient, the very first clause of which makes clear that, as between noble souls, perfect equality must be forever maintained. Beneficience, which ties people together, is a heavenly passion, but a thoroughly misunderstood one, and quite as scarce as true love. Both stem from the lavish nature of great souls. ↗

— Honoré de Balzac

#character #hypocrisy #kind #kindness #people

Nature forgot to shade him off, I think... A little too boisterous--like the sea. A little too vehement--like a bull who has made up his mind to consider every colour scarlet. But I grant a sledge-hammering sort of merit in him! ↗

— Charles Dickens

#loudness #nature

His character is like an emerald—multifaceted and enhanced by inclusions. ↗

— Melika Dannese Lux

#character-assessment #corcitura #emerald #leonora-bianchetti #stefan-belododia

Understanding character is a vital part of the process of finding a relationship partner and developing a strong and vibrant relationship together. ↗

— Susanne M. Alexander

#relationship-advice #relationship

Widespread criticisms of jihad in Islam and the so-called sword verses in the Quran have unearthed for fair-minded Christians difficult questions about Christianity's own traditions of holy war and 'texts of terror.' Like Hinduism's Mahabharata epic, the Bible devotes entire books to war and rumors thereof. Unlike the Quran, however, it contains hardly any rules for how to conduct a just war. ↗

— Stephen R. Prothero

#christianity #hinduism #holy-war #islam #mahabharata

The Prophet's character was termed tremendous because his concern was for God alone. ↗

— Imam Junayd al-Baghdadi

#islam #prophet-muhammad #prophetic-gift #religion #tasawwuf

When I ask French parents what they most want for their children, they say things like "to feel comfortable in their own skin" and "to find their path in the world." They want their kids to develop their own tastes and opinions. In fact, French parents worry if their kids are too docile. They want them to have character. But they believe that children can achieve these goals only if they respect boundaries and have self-control. So alongside character, there has to be cadre. ↗

— Pamela Druckerman

#character #france #parenting #respect

You could know a man not by what his friends said about him, but by how he treated his servants. ↗

— Cassandra Clare

#paranormal #paraphrased #young-teen #teen

I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven. ↗

— Stephen King

#on-writing #stories #storytelling #storytelling