Make Your CHARACTER Your MASTERPIECE! 

Make your CHARACTER your MASTERPIECE! All men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life; in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a master piece. – Saint Pope John Paul II Read more of Michael Josephson‘s favorite quotes on character here: https://whatwillmatter.com/character-greatest-quotes-character-reputation-character-education-compiled-michael-josephson/

Doing What Is Right

Spend less energy trying to convince others you are right and more of just doing what is right. – Michael Josephson Subscribe to a weekly newsletter featuring articles and quotes of Michael Josephson atwww.whatwillmatter.com

You Don’t Have To Be Sick To Get Better

WHEN IT CONCERNS CHARACTER: YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SICK TO GET BETTER. Everyone is ethical in their own eyes. Beware of self delusion when assessing your own character or the ethics of your organization. It’s a dangerous form of hubris to be certain that “I would never do that” or “It can’t happen here.” It’s easier to make a …

CHARACTER EDUCATION IS INDISPENSABLE TO EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC EDUCATION.

CHARACTER EDUCATION IS INDISPENSABLE TO EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC EDUCATION. By Michael Josephson​ There is mounting evidence that core character traits producing emotional intelligence and “grit” are better indicators of school and life success than pure academic achievement, including grades and standardized test scores. It’s obvious that knowledge itself is not enough. The information and cognitive skills taught by schools need to …

Ethics is Bigger Than Compliance

Ethics is bigger than compliance. Compliance is doing what you are required to do; ethics is about doing what you should do. An act is not ethical simply because it’s legal, nor is it proper simply because it’s permissible. In an ethical culture, people are expected to do more than ask what they have a right to do; they are …

Michael Josephson’s NBC4 Interview: “What 2017 Says About America’s Character”

Michael Josephson’s NBC4 Interview: “What 2017 Says About America’s Character” As 2017 came to a close, Michael Josephson sat down with NBC4’s Conan Nolan to discuss what the year 2017 demonstrated about the country’s character. Both segments of Michael’s interview (which was a part of the NBC4’s NewsConference segment) are worth watching — especially as we think about how character …

Reality Won’t Budge

You can twist words, make excuses, and interpret what you’ve done or what’s been done to you anyway you want, but reality won’t budge. – Michael Josephson

Character is Built on Decisions

Our character is both formed and revealed by how we deal with everyday challenges as well as extraordinary pressures and temptations, like a well made tower, character is built stone by stone, decision by decision. – Michael Josephson

People of Character

People of character do the right thing even if no one is looking. People of character do the right thing even if it costs more than they want to pay. People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world, but because they refused to be changed by …

Your Character Determines Your Destiny

Watch your thoughts; they lead to attitudes. Watch your attitudes; they lead to words. Watch your words; they lead to actions. Watch your actions; they lead to habits. Watch your habits; they lead to character. Watch your character; it determines your destiny.

COMMENTARY: Working to Teach Character Together

When I talk to parents and teachers about the role of schools in teaching character someone usually points out that character development is and should be the primary concern of parents. Who can argue with that? Many of the attitudes and habits that make up character are learned at home. But they’re learned elsewhere as well — on the school …

COMMENTARY: Character Is an Essential Part of Competence

If you were hiring a new CEO, what are the most important qualities you’d look for? Surely you’d want a high level of demonstrated competence – knowledge, experience, intelligence, vision, communication, and relationship skills and the ability to motivate, manage, and solve problems. But what about qualities such as honesty, moral courage, accountability, and fairness? Despite bold rhetoric about the …

COMMENTARY: Take Control of Your Life!

Our choices reveal our character, but more importantly they shape our character. Thus, the more aware we become of the choices we make every single day — choices about our attitudes, words, actions and reactions — the more power we have over our own destiny.

COMMENTARY: The Disease of Low Expectations

The serious damage done to our economy, social institutions, and personal relationships by widespread cheating and dishonesty is bad enough. But widespread acceptance of such behavior as inevitable threatens to make our future a lot worse. In effect, our culture is being infected by a disease: the disease of low expectations.

People of character …

People of character do the right thing even if no one is looking. People of character do the right thing even if it costs more than they want to pay. People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be changed by …

Do The Right Thing

People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world but because they refuse to be changed by the world. – Michael Josephson