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Character Assemblies

Lesson 1: The Importance of Character
Lesson 2: A Definition of Character
Lesson 3: Character and Virtue
Lesson 4: The Virtue of Industry

Lesson 4: The Virtue of Industry

What is industry?
1. From the Latin industria: diligent activity directed to some purpose.
2. Diligence from diligo, diligere: to esteem, to value, to love.
3. A work ethic: in other words, having a work character.
What we mean by industry is hard work.
1. Are we saying you should get up every morning and say, “Oh, joy, I get to go to school today”?
2. The vice opposite the virtue of industry is laziness, sloth, carelessness, etc.
3. Which is more natural?
The story of the three men in the quarry.
1. The first man says he is “breaking big rocks into little ones.”
2. The second man says he is “making a living.”
3. The third man says he is “building a cathedral.”
4. Which man is most likely the better worker?
  1. which one sees “the big picture”?
  2. which one is most likely to enjoy his work?
5. The comparison to work at school.
  1. doing nothing is failing
  2. “moving your pencil across the paper” is worth a D
  3. “doing homework” is roughly a C
  4. “trying to make better grades” would be a B
  5. “studying the nature of humanity and the nature of the universe” is definitely worth an A
  6. what are you doing?
Important things to know about work
1. Work is inevitable.
  1. for example, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 2:19
  2. another example: Captain John Smith: “him who will not work shall not eat”
2. Work is very American.
  1. Benjamin Franklin: “Here a man is judged not by who he is [i.e. whether he is an aristocrat] but by what he can do.”
  2. how liberating a message, especially to the many immigrants to this country
3. Work is not just punching a time clock; it is creation.
  1. the difference between doing a job grudgingly and doing it until it is done right
  2. would you want a brain surgeon to keep looking at the clock as he worked on your brain, wondering when he could go home?
  3. the job you do in anything reflects not only on the work itself but on you as a person
4. Possible objection: what does work have to do with school?
  1. let’s say you want to design aircraft for a living
  2. can you just go to Boeing’s headquarters and say, “I’d like to design an aircraft for you, but I’m not any good at math”?
  3. Boeing recruits only the best math and science students, the ones who love math, the really scary ones
  4. Nowhere on Boeing’s job application, or on any other job application, will you find the question “were you cool in high school?”
The moral to the story.
1. Where are you currently on the scale of work?
2. Are you simply breaking big rocks into little ones or are you becoming a creator?

Lesson 3: Character and Virtue

To understand character, we must understand virtue
1. Original meaning of virtue for men: manliness, courage, etc.
  1. for the Romans, to be virtuous was to be manly, vice versa
  2. question to young men: are you man enough to be good?
2. Original meaning of virtue for women: chastity or modesty.
  1. what those words mean and whether used today
  2. question to young women: are you good enough to be a lady?
3. Current meaning of the word: general moral excellence, goodness.
4. Virtue in the plural: the virtues (courage, perseverance, ring a bell?).
The nature of virtue
1. The virtuous man does the right thing in the right way for the right reasons over an entire lifetime. (Aristotle, loosely)
2. Easy? Every virtue is opposed to a weakness or vice in man.
  1. You’re hurting my self-esteem, Dr. Moore! I’m not perfect?
  2. what keeps us from seeing when we are in the wrong: pride
3. If virtue is hard and I am naturally disposed not to see my vices, how do I become virtuous?
4. Human beings become virtuous by practicing the virtues. (Aristotle)
The meaning of practice
1. Simply to do.
2. To do repeatedly in order to learn a skill or form a habit.
3. Example of the wide receiver in football (easy job! lots of practice).
4. If something as straightforward as catching a pass requires so much practice, how much practice will it take to be a good human being?

Lesson 2: A Definition of Character

The good and the bad news
1. The world is looking for men and women of good character.
2. You will be in demand if you have it; you will not if you don’t.
What is character?
1. Original meaning: a mark or a stamp (something that lasts).
2. A person’s individual identity.
3. Moral or ethical strength.
4. The public estimation of a person; reputation.
5. A person's status or role in life.
6. How these all connect together.
Conclusions drawn from the meaning of character
1. It is your job to establish your character.
2. Your character will largely be formed by the time you leave school.
3. Character is a matter of will.
  1. i.e. not a matter of birth, hair color, luck, etc.
  2. example of how you use your study hall: entirely up to you
You are already making your own character
1. Every day you are deciding what kind of man or woman you want to be.
2. “But wait, I’m just a kid!”
  1. being a kid is fine
  2. just realize it is easier to form your character now than when you are an adult already
3. This school exists so you can form your character.
  1. characters in history
  2. characters in literature
  3. what it means to be a George Washington, an Eliza Bennett, etc.
  4. what will it mean to be a (your name)?

Lesson 1: The Importance of Character

Getting into college
1. What does it take to get into college?
2. What the college application says (handout).
3. Why should the colleges care so much about characte
Letters of reference
1. David Wilkie’s “The Letter of Introduction” (handout).
2. An example of a negative “letter of introduction.”
3. An example of a positive “letter of introduction.”
4. Which letter would you prefer written about you?
5. Which letter do you most deserve?
The importance of character stated
1. The way the world works
  1. colleges’ concern with character
  2. employers’ concern with character
2. The world takes your character very seriously. Do you?