Moral Qualities
Moral character or character is an evaluation of an individual’s stable moral qualities. The concept of character can imply various attributes, including the existence or lack of virtues such as empathy, courage, fortitude, honesty, loyalty, or good behaviours or habits. Moral character primarily refers to the assemblage of qualities that distinguish one individual from another—although, on a cultural level, the set of ethical behaviours to which a social group adheres can be said to unite and define it culturally as distinct from others. Psychologist Lawrence Prev defines moral character as “a disposition to express behaviour in consistent patterns of functions across various situations”. Similarly, the philosopher George refers to the moral character as the “sum of one’s moral habits and dispositions.”
Overview
The word “character” is derived from the Ancient Greek word “character”, referring to a mark impressed upon a coin. Later it came to mean a point by which one thing was told apart from others. There are two approaches when dealing with moral character: Normative ethics involve ethical standards that exhibit right and wrong conduct. It is a test of proper behaviour and determining what is right and wrong. Applied ethics involve specific and controversial issues and a moral choice and tend to include situations where people are either for or against the case.
In 1982 V. Campbell and R. Bond proposed the following as significant sources in influencing the character and moral development: heredity, early childhood experience, modelling by significant adults and older youth, peer influence, the general physical and social environment, the communications media, the teachings of schools and other institutions, and specific situations and roles that elicit corresponding behaviour.
The field of business ethics examines moral controversies relating to the social responsibilities of capitalist business practices, the moral status of corporate entities, deceptive advertising, insider trading, employee rights, job discrimination, affirmative action and drug testing.
In the military field, the character is considered particularly relevant in the leadership development area. Military leaders should not only “know” theoretically the moral values, but they must embody these values.
History
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a historical account of some critical philosophical approaches to moral character. Much attention is given to Plato, Aristotle, and Karl Marx’s views, since they all follow moral character after the Greeks. Marx accepts Aristotle’s insight that virtue and good character are based on a sense of self-esteem and self-confidence.
Plato believed that the soul is divided into three parts of desire: Rational, Appetite, or Spirited. To have moral character, we must understand what contributes to our overall good and have our sincere and appetite desires appropriately educated so that they can agree with the guidance provided by the rational part of the soul.
Below is a list of moral and spiritual qualities that we aim to work on so that you can discover your true potential by knowing who you are.
Acceptance: To consider circumstances, especially those that cannot be changed, as satisfactory.
Accountability: Being answerable to God and at least one other person for my behaviour.
Alertness: Being keenly aware of the events taking place around me to have the correct responses to them.
Ambition: Having a strong desire for success or achievement.
Amends (Repentance): Humbly acknowledging how you have fallen short of God’s standard and seeking His forgiveness to make things right.
Assertiveness: Disposed to or characterised by bold or confident assertion.
Attentiveness: Showing the worth of a person or task by giving my undivided concentration and effort.
Authenticity: Being exactly who you claim to be with honesty and transparency.
Availability: Making my schedule and priorities secondary to the wishes of those I serve.
Beauty: The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Aesthetic harmony.
Benevolence: Giving to others’ basic needs without expectations of personal reward.
Boldness: Demonstrating the confidence and courage that doing what is right will bring ultimate victory regardless of present opposition.
Bonding: Authentically connecting with one another, avoiding unhealthy isolation.
Boundaries: Creating a ‘safe place’ or limitations that protect me from potentially unmanageable temptation.
Bravery: A quality of spirit that enables you to face the danger of pain without showing fear.
Breadth: Having depth and broadness, in words and deeds, within the heart and mind.
Brotherliness: Exhibiting a kinship and disposition to render help because of a relationship.
Candour: Speaking the truth at the time when the truth should be spoken.
Caring: To give care. A concern for…
Caution: Knowing to be alert in a hazardous situation.
Charity: Generosity and helpfulness, especially toward the needy or suffering. Aid is given to those in need.
Cheerful: Expressing encouragement, approval or congratulations at the proper time.
Chivalry: Protecting the weak, the suffering and the neglected by maintaining justice and rightness.
Cleanliness: Careful to keep clean; fastidious, habitually kept clean.
Commitment: I am devoting myself to following up on my words (promises, pledges or vows) with action.
Compassion: Investing whatever is necessary to heal the hurts of others by the willingness to bear their pain.
Confidence: Placing complete trust and belief in the reliability of a person or thing.
Consideration: Thoughtful and sympathetic regard for the needs of others. Careful thought.
Consistency: Following constantly the same principles, course or form in all circumstances; holding together.
Contentment: Accepting myself as God created me with my gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities.The quality of feeling satisfied with one’s possessions, status or situation.
Cooperation: To associate with another or others for the mutual benefit/to achieve a shared goal.
Courage: Fulfilling my responsibilities and standing up for convictions despite being afraid.
Courtesy: Polite, respectful or considerate behaviour is mindful of other people.
Creativity: Approaching a need, a task or an idea from a new perspective.
Curiosity: A desire to find out and know things.
Decisiveness: Learning to finalise difficult decisions based on what is right, not on popular or tempting.
Deference: Limiting my freedom to speak and act not to offend the tastes of others.
Defiance: Bold resistance.
Dependability: Fulfilling what I consented to do even if it means unexpected sacrifice.
Detachment: Freedom from attachments.
Determination: Working intently to accomplish goals regardless of the opposition.
Devotion: A great love or loyalty, enthusiastic zeal.
Diligence: Visualising each task as a particular assignment and using all my energies to accomplish it.
Discernment: Seeking to use intuitive ability to judge situations and people; understanding why things happen to me and others.
Discipline: Positively receiving instruction and correction; maintaining and enforcing proper conduct by the guidelines and rules.
Discretion: Recognising and avoiding words, actions and attitudes which could result in undesirable consequences.
Eloquence: Compelling language. Fluent, persuasive and articulate speech.
Empathy: Identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives.
Endurance: Exercising inward strength to withstand stress and do my best in managing what occurs in my life.
Enthusiasm: Expressing lively, absorbing interest in each task as I give it my best effort.
Excellence: The quality of excelling; possessing good grades in a high degree.
Fairness (Equity): Looking at a decision from the viewpoint of each person involved.
Faith: Developing unshakable confidence in God and acting upon it.
Faithfulness: Being thorough in the performance of my duties; being faithful to my words, promises and vows.
Fear of the lord: Having a sense of awe and respect for Almighty God goes above and beyond anyone or anything else.
Firmness: Exerting a tenacity of will with strength and resoluteness. A willingness to run counter to the traditions and fashions of the world.
Flexibility: Learning how to change plans when unexpected conditions require it cheerfully.
Focus: Concentrated awareness and effort.
Forbearance: Restraint under provocation; patience: good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence.
Forgiveness: Clearing the record of those who have wronged me and not holding their past offences against them.
Fortitude: Strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage.
Friendliness: Agreeableness is a tendency to be pleasant and accommodating.
Friendship: Coming alongside another person for mutual support and encouragement.
Frugality: prudence in avoiding waste and being economical with resources.
Generosity: Realising that all I have (time, talents and treasures) belongs to God and freely gives to others.
Gentleness: Learning to respond to needs with kindness, personal care and love.
Gladness: Abounding in joy, jubilation and cheerfulness.
Goal-oriented: Achieving maximum results toward the area where my effort is directed.
Goodness: Having moral excellence and a virtuous lifestyle; a general quality of proper conduct.
Grace: Elegance and beauty of movement or expression.
Gratefulness: Making known to others by my words and actions how they have benefited my life.
Gratitude: Being thankful.
Greatness: Demonstrating an extraordinary capacity for achievement.
Helpfulness: The quality of providing helpful assistance.
Holiness: Being whole with no blemish or stain.
Honesty: Proclaiming the truth with sincerity and frankness in all situations.
Honour: Respecting those in leadership because of the higher authorities they represent.
Hope: Feeling that my deepest desire will be realised and that events will turn out for the best.
Hospitality: Sharing food, shelter and life cheerfully with those with whom I come in contact.
Humbleness: Modest; not arrogant or boastful.
Humility: Seeing the contrast between what is perfect and my inability to achieve that perfection. A disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride.
Humour: The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing, comical, unpredictable, or absurd.
Idealism: High mindedness: lofty ideals and conduct; the quality of believing that objectives should be pursued.
Impartiality: Fair. An inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally without bias.
Indignation: Channelling the driving passion of righteous anger without sinning.
Industry: Diligent, hardworking.
Initiative: Recognising and doing what needs to be done before I am asked to do it.
Innocence: Guileless, not guilty.
Integrity: Being whole and complete in moral and ethical principles.
Joyfulness: Choosing to be pleasant regardless of outside circumstances, which ultimately lifts the spirits of others.
Justice: Taking personal responsibility to uphold what is pure, right and proper.
Kindness: Demonstrating a gentle, sympathetic attitude towards others.
Knowledge: Becoming acquainted with facts, truths or principles through study and investigation.
Leadership: Guiding others toward a positive conclusion.
Liberality: An inclination to favour progress and individual freedom; the trait of being generous in behaviour and temperament.
Love: Having a deep personal attachment and affection for another person.
Loyalty: Using difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to others or to what is right.
Magnanimity: The virtue of being great of mind and heart. It usually encompasses, a refusal to be petty, a willingness to face danger, and actions for noble purposes.
Majesty: Great and impressive dignity.
Meekness: Yielding my power, personal rights and expectations humbly with a desire to serve.
Mercy (Clemency): Leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice.
Moderation: The avoidance of extremes in one’s actions or opinions.
Modesty: Freedom from vanity or conceit. I am not inclined to boast.
Narrowness: Staying within established boundaries and limits.
Nurture: Caring for the physical, mental and spiritual needs of others.
Obedience: Fulfilling instructions so that the one I am serving will be delighted and pleased.
Openness: Ready and willing to talk candidly; unsecretive.
Optimism: Confident, hopeful and never doubtful.
Orderliness: Learning to organise and care for personal possessions to achieve greater efficiency.
Originality: Creating ‘new’ thinking, ideas and expanding truths from an independent viewpoint.
Passionate: Having an intense, compelling emotion and feelings towards others or something.
Patience: Accepting difficult situations without demanding a deadline to remove them.
Peace: Freedom from mental agitation; serenity.
Peaceful: Being at rest with myself and others.
Perseverance: A continuing effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure and opposition.
Persistence: Never-ceasing, relentless.
Persuasiveness: Guiding another’s mental roadblocks by using words that cause the listener’s spirit to confirm the spoken truth.
Piety: Humble devotion to a high ideal.
Poise: Being balanced in mind, body and spirit.
Prayerful: Communing with God spiritually through adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication.
Prosperity: Flourishing or being successful, especially about financial issues.
Prudence: Exhibiting caution, humbleness and wisdom in regards to practical matters.
Punctuality: Showing respect for other people by respectfully using the limited time they have.
Pure speech: Speaking words that are clean, spotless and without blemish.
Purity: Freeing yourself from anything that contaminates or adulterates.
Purposeful: Exercising determination to stay on track until the goal is achieved.
Reasonableness: Having a sound mind by being level headed, sane and demonstrating common sense.
Reliability: Can be trusted to do something.
Renewal: Restoration of strength through recovery and replenishment.
Resoluteness: The quality of being firm in purpose.
Resourcefulness: Using wisely that which others would usually overlook or discard.
Respect: Honouring and esteeming another person due to deep admiration.
Responsibility: Knowing and doing what is expected from me.
Restoration: Getting a fresh start or new beginning.
Restraint: Holding back.
Reverence: Giving honour where it is due and respecting the possessions and property of others.
Righteousness: Acting in a moral and upright way that honours God, regardless of who is watching.
Security: Structuring my life around what is eternal and cannot be destroyed or taken away.
Self-control: Bringing my thoughts, words, actions and attitudes into constant obedience to benefit others.
Selflessness: The quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others.
Self-sacrifice: The giving up of one’s benefit, especially giving up one’s life, for the good of others.
Sensitivity: Being aware and attentive to the proper attitudes and emotional needs of those around me.
Servant hood: Caring for and meeting the needs of others before caring for myself.
Service: Work done by one person or group that benefits another.
Silence: Inner peace. I was being silent.
Simplicity: Straightforward, not complex or complicated. Unpretentious.
Sincerity: Endeavouring to do what is right, without ulterior motives.
Sobriety: Serious, solemn and calm. Free from intoxication.
Spontaneity: Natural, not planned.
Steadfastness: Firm, resolute, determinedly unwavering.
Stewardship: Administering and managing personal and financial affairs effectively.
Strength: Having power, force and vigour for the task assigned.
Surrender: Yielding to the authority, guidance and direction of God in my life.
Tact: Consideration in dealing with others and avoiding offending.
Teachability: Demonstrating a willingness to learn or be trained without any reservations or hindrances.
Temperance: Moderation and self-restraint, as in behaviour or expression. Restraint in the use of, or abstinence from, alcoholic liquors/intoxicants.
Thankfulness: Expressing deep gratitude and appreciation to people and God.
Thoroughness: Executing something flawlessly with the realisation that each of my tasks will be reviewed.
Thoughtfulness: Showing consideration for others through acts of kindness and words.
Thrift: The characteristic of using a minimum of something. Saving.
Thriftiness: Preventing myself or others from spending money unnecessarily.
Tolerance: Learning to accept others as valuable individuals regardless of their maturity.
Toughness: Strong and durable; not easily damaged.
Tranquillity: Serenely quiet and peaceful; undisturbed.
Transparency: Allowing others to shine a light on my life to be accountable.
Trust: Having confidence in others; lacking suspicion.
Trustworthiness: Able to be trusted or depended on; reliable.
Truthfulness: Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts.
Understanding: Exhibiting vital intelligence and a sound mind in comprehending and discerning matters.
Unity: Freedom from division; oneness.
Unstoppable: The freedom to perform at your highest level without any restraints.
Virtue: Building personal moral standards which will cause others to desire a more excellent moral life.
Visionary: Dreaming not inhibited by the unknown. They are looking beyond problems by creating successful solutions.
Vitality: Exuberant physical strength or mental vigour, energy.
Vulnerability: Being open to receive constructive criticism and guidance.
Wisdom: Learning to see and respond correctly to life situations with keen judgment and knowledge application.
Wonder: The feeling of being aroused by something strange and surprising.
Worship: Honouring God reverently.
Zeal: Ardour – a feeling of intense eagerness. Tireless devotion.
These spiritual and moral qualities will give you thinking, attitude, personality and the character that one can dream of. Only then will you be able to see your inner and outer world changed and positively affect your life and the people around you.
Each quality is a seed that we are willing to implant in the hearts and minds of people to benefit themselves and others by unleashing their true potential.
How will we achieve this?
Through our regular classes in self-development programme in
Meditation, Guided Meditation, Relaxation, Positive Thinking, Self Determination, High Self Esteem, Confidence Enhancement, Self –Improvement and Self- Awareness