Favorite Inspirational Quotes

When it comes to what we demand of ourselves or others, we should never lower our standards.  Character is a function of choice.  Weaknesses and bad habits are not excuses not to get better.

Michael Josephson (charactercounts.org)

When you receive the daily Insight of the Day emails, the Friday ones contain stories and not just quotes.  This was the last part of the 21 November 2008 Friday story.  I thought it was so good I quoted this part here and put it on my wall.  You might also want to checkout Josephson’s website, Character Counts.

I thought this was a very good reminder to me.  Probably why I wanted to quote it here.  At no point in our lives is it too late to improve our character.

Character, as Josephson says, is what comes from the type of choices we make and the habits we create.  If I create the habit of constantly being late, that can say a lot about my character and my regard for other people.  If I do not exercise and eat lots of junk food, that says a lot about my disregard for myself and my laziness.  If I drop my kids off on strangers, that says a lot about my disregard of my children and their safety, my selfishness in putting myself first, and my lack of regard for the people I give my kids to.

It is a very good thing to have high standards.  Note, I am not saying impossibly high standards that expect perfection.  But I also should not accept excuses from myself or anyone else for what amounts to making poor choices and being lazy and holding little regard for myself and others.  It is important to my character to make good choices and create good habits, though those may differ for each of us.

Tags: Michael Josephson