SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR TEENS: The Summer Job Conundrum
Hi, this is Michael Josephson with my last Something to Think About story for the school year. Julia, an 11th grader was thrilled when she got an A+ on an assignment to design an advertising brochure in an art class. And when her teacher, Mr. Roberts, told her she should consider a career in advertising Julia realized that was exactly what …
COMMENTARY 779.1: Dying From the Cold Within
One of the great challenges to our humanity is acknowledging and overcoming our natural tendency to think less of and discriminate against people who are different than us racially, ethnically, religiously or ideologically. Despite persistent rhetoric about prizing diversity, political debates often reflect disdain and contempt for those we disagree with and prejudices of all sorts are more readily stated. …
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR TEENS: A Life-Changing Decision
Mallory Holtman, the first baseman for her college softball team, had no idea she was about to make a choice that would change her life. During a game that could determine the conference championship, Sara Tucholsky, a player for the other team, hit the ball over the center field fence. Sara was only 5’2”, had had only three hits all …
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR TEENS: Jesse Owens and Luz Long — Sportsmanship and Character
In 1936 the Olympic Games were hosted by Germany, governed by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. Hitler’s well-known hatred of Jews and his disdain for non-white races was part of the atmosphere of the Games and, to America’s most famous and accomplished African American athlete Jesse Owens, competing in a stadium filled with swastikas and “Heil Hitler’ straight-arm salutes to the …
QUOTE: We each decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us. No one decides for us, no one drags us along one path or the other. We are responsible for what we are. — Moses Maimonides (adapted)
See more than 100 quotes and images about ethics and virtue from a spiritual or religious perspective here.
COMMENTARY: The Seven Cs of Character 756.2
As you consider your goals for the New Year, I hope you’ll think about working on your character. No, you’re not too old and I don’t mean to imply you’re a bad person. As I’ve said often, “you don’t have to be sick to get better.” In fact, it’s a lot easier to make a good person better than a …
WORTH READING: What is Character?
An oldie and a goodie: Read and listen to “What is Character?“
QUOTE: How true Daddy’s words were when he said: all children must look after their own upbringing. Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands. — Anne Frank
A similar thought: “Let us not say, Every man is the architect of his own fortune; but let us say, Every man is the architect of his own character.” — George Dana Boardman
COMMENTARY: Birds on a Wire: Actions are More Important Than Intentions
Five birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Two of them decide to fly South. How many are left? Three, you say? No, it’s five. You see, deciding to fly South is not the same as doing it. If a bird really wants to go somewhere, it’s got to point itself in the right direction, jump off the wire and flap its …
OBSERVATION: Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
The Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” Life rarely demands grand acts of valor where we put our lives on the line for a principle or person we love, but it often demands the strength and fortitude to do what we are afraid to do, to do what we don’t want
COMMENTARY 751.2: What Is Character?
Here’s a riddle: You can hardly ever find it anymore — especially in politics or business. Lots of schools don’t teach it anymore. We want more of it in our children and in all the adults who interact with them. We want it from our bosses and the people who fix our cars. And most of us believe we have …
OBSERVATION: Character is destiny. – Heraclitus
Of course, our character shapes our destiny. We must not forget, however, we shape our character. Thus, character may determine our fate, but character is not determined by fate. It is
Doing The Right Thing
Character is doing the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay. – Michael Josephson
WORTH READING: THE ASPEN DECLARATION. In July 1992, the Josephson Institute of Ethics hosted a summit in Aspen, Colorado bringing together ethicists, educators and youth-service professionals to identify shared ethical values that could be the foundation of character education programs. The result was the Aspen Declaration, the seminal document for the CHARACTER COUNTS! movement which presently engages about 7 million children and families worldwide. (click to see the Declaration)
Click to see 12′ x 25′ mural by Nadi Spencer at Monson Sultana School in Tulare County, CA
COMMENTARY: Courtesy is Kindness in Action 749.3
As a society, we have become almost obsessed with identifying and asserting our rights – to think, say, and do what we want. That’s not surprising, given the history of our country and the prominent role the Constitution and Bill of Rights have played in shaping our culture. We have a right to be unkind, thoughtless, and disrespectful – but …
COMMENTARY: We Are What We Think 746.4
In the early 1900s, a little-known philosopher named James Allen wrote a powerful essay called “As a Man Thinketh” in which he argued that we are what we think, that a person’s character is the sum of his thoughts. He declared that the power to control our thoughts (whether we use that power or not) is the ability to mold …
What Will Matter – by Michael Josephson
I love to teach. I live to teach. I need to teach. So, in an effort to create a new platform for my teachings I recently created this new website called WhatWillMatter.com. I hope you’ll visit and subscribe and stay regularly engaged in the search for what matters. The name of the website or blog comes from the title of …
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