Stephen Dubner

But anyway, he said two things about character that I like.

Because character is something I think about a lot.

Oh, exactly.

So you did your homework.

So this is from John Wood, and I could never make this up.

He said two things about character.

One of them is fairly famous, and I don't love it.

He said, character is what you do when no one is watching.

That's fine, but it's got a little bit of a godly, moralistic feeling to it.

I grew up in a family where that was a feeling, and it's not my preferred mode of feeling.

Anyway, the other thing he said, though, is that people should worry more about their character than your reputation.

Because reputation is simply what other people think of you.

Whereas character is who you really are.

That, to me, is the essence of it.

And maybe that is the same as his other quote about characters, what you do when no one is watching.

And the more you worry about the reputation side, the harder it is to stoke your character.

That's the way I see it.

One of the advantages of getting older is not just actual history, but personal history and understanding how people are, how people change, what you need to accept about other people and about yourself.

I believe in all the cliches.

Good character is really important.