A good name is worth all the wealth in life

A fair reputation is a plant, delicate in its nature, and by no means rapid in its growth. It will not shoot up in a night like the gourd; but like that gourd, it may perish in a night.

- Jeremy Taylor, a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.

As with a good example being the best sermon one could preach; living one's life with a good name, is worth more than all the riches one could accumulate in one's life. However, to gain a good name, one needs character, because character lives in a man, reputation outside of him. In fact, one cannot dream oneself into character; one must hammer and forge oneself one.

The final forming of the character of a person lies in his or her own hands; believe me, nobody will take it upon your word.

The character of a person is what determines one's reputation. To navigate the stormy currents of life, one's character acts upon like weights and floats: depending on the strength and weaknesses of character, life some times makes us glide along the bottom; and at another, maintain us on the surface.

Be that as it is, character always is, best formed in the stormy billows of the world rather than in solitude.

Thus, reputation may be something, which society forms depending upon whether one is at the bottom or on top of life; but character will always shine forth, forever. Hence, it is well worth remembering that reputation is for time; character is for eternity.

If you possess character, it matters not what you are or thought to be; but what you are, is all that matters because characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed; and even then, nothing of character is really, permanent; but virtue and personal worth are, measured not in wealth, but in merit.

Character is a diamond that scratches every other stone; and is more important than knowledge, for the simple reason that the greatest hope of society lies in building a people of virtue and individual character.

However, to achieve this one needs the perfectly educated will; because, it is with little traits that the greatest of human character is composed. Most men best show their character in trifles, when they are not on their guard. It is in the simplest habits that we often see the boundless egotism that pays no heed nor regard to the feelings of others, and denies nothing to them self.

In fact, every man is the creature of the age in which he lives, and very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of their times; only because our character is but the stamp on our souls of the free choices of good and evil we have made through life. A man unable, of his own free decision, to choose good or evil, would be a being who will be, only led on a leading-string.

Fortune

Mental attitude and the way we spend our time defines our character: Every thought we willingly contemplate, every word we meaningfully speak, every action freely done, consolidates itself in the character, and will project itself onward in a permanent continuity; and will form the real foundation of all worthwhile success.

Thus, if a man is unable to attain a good of his own free will, he will have no power to purify himself by the love that springs from freedom and will only sink into the abyss of evil.

We are the architects of our fate; but not every man is the architect of his fortune. We have different positions, spheres, capacities, privileges, different work to do in the world, different temporal fabrics to build; but we are all, alike in this - all are architects of fate but not fortune.

Fortune may favour the brave, but he is a fortunes' fool who seeks greater wealth and higher fortune, but not the simple pleasures of life, the deeper felicity.

I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way, we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value. But to do so, one needs character; and actions, looks, words are steps that form the alphabet by which one may spell character. Character in the long haul, is the decisive factor in the life of individuals and of nations alike.

Without knowing this, we struggle to know our future, our fortune.

We realise not that the greatest motivator in life is, not knowing; and to survive each moment as it comes to us in its proper sequence but as a surprise: things for which it is impossible to prepare; but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, accepting, interpreting, comprehending. Perhaps they might be things that should have never happened, things that seemed out of place and wrong; yet these were what prevailed, what endured, in the end. How you faced them, defines your character.

We struggle hard to gain the world and in the process lose our soul. We realise not that a good name gained is better any day than all the wealth in the world. The morals of today may differ with this perception; but no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both: Esteem with favourable acceptance, and the attainment of wealth.

I believe it was Epictetus who was a Greek sage and Stoic philosopher who - born in Turkey, lived in Rome, and banished to Greece - said that, "wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

For, wealth can be lost or stolen, but not a good name that results from possessing few wants: the name of the righteous is, used in blessings while the name of the rich will not.

Today, we live in a world, as Mahatma Gandhi said, in which wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; science without humanity; knowledge without character; politics without principles; commerce without morality; and worship without sacrifice are the norm.

In spite of it, or even because of it - these valueless values - if you are rich and wealthy; remember that being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it's the freedom to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy: you may then attain a good name.

Inequality

In a world that is fashioned on economic exclusion and inequality, idolising of money, a financial system that rules rather than serve, inequality that spawns violence, cultural challenges, and urban cultures, the rich and the poor have a common bond.

To become as a people for everyone, to serve the communion that evangelises the cause of culture, thought, and education; commitment to society and its challenges; concern for the vulnerable; and to use words that sets hearts on fire.

However, the great danger in today's world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.

Whenever our inner life is, caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others.

That is when the failure of character is, revealed.

I suppose, in the final analysis, like what the Buddha taught, contentment is the greatest wealth, faithfulness the greatest relationship.

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