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The ChemawaAmerican
P r in t e d a t C h ô m â t a , O reg o n , a n d D e v o te d to th e I n t e n t t t o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n
VoL XXV
Wednesday, February 21, 1923
CHARACTER
Character is the greatest force in the world. The
young man or woman who starts out with a resolution
to make capital out of his character, and to pledge his
whole manhood or womanhood for every obligation
into which he enters, will not be a failure, though he
wins neither fame nor fortune. No person ever really
does a great thing and loses his character in the process.
Character as your capital is greatly underestimated
by a large majority of our young people. They seem
to put more emphasis upon smartness, shrewdness,
than upon downright honesty and integrity of char
acter. Boys—girls—no substitute has ever been dis
covered for honesty. Multitudes of people have come
to grief and trouble trying to find one. Our jails are
full of people who have attempted to substitute some
thing else for it. The principles by which the problems
of real success are solved are right and justice, honesty
and integrity, qualities which characterize all of our
really big men and women. And just in proportion
as a person, old or young, deviates from these princi
ples he falls short of solving his problems.
Every one of our young people ought to feel that
there is that in them that bribery of any kind—bribery
for a good time, bribery to influence them to take or
handle that which is not theirs—cannot touch; some
thing which is not for sale; something they would not
sacrifice or tamper with for any price; something for
which they would give their lives, if necessary, and
that is honesty and integrity of character. Young
people, just as soon as it is found out that you always
stand for the right, that your influence is on the side
of good, you assume importance and become a power
in your own little world.
Not one of you can really believe in yourself if you
occupy a false position. The consciousness of not
being genuine, not being what others think you are,
robs you of power, honeycombs your character, and
destroys self-confidence. Doing dishonest things, no
matter what may be the inducement, will land you on
the rocks if you yield to the temptation. It is de-
moralyzing to your mental faculties and paralyzing to
your character.
Upon everything you do, boys and girls, put thereon
the trademark of your manhood and womanhood.
No. 18
You cannot afford to sell the best and greatest quality
you have, your honor—your manhood or womanhood.
Resolve that under no circumstances will you be less
than a man or a woman. Resolve that whatever comes
up in your life, you are going to stand for something,
that you are going to be a man— a woman—first,
last and all the time.
No matter what obstacles may beset your path, or
how badly handicapped you may be, it is possible for
you to throw such a wealth of honesty and high char
acter about you that people will be unconsciously
drawn to you. Such boys and girls are welcome in
every home and are more likely to succeed than those
who have abundant means and influential relations.
Be ambitious in the best sense, which is equivalent to
the ambition for nobility of character, for there is noth
ing that will make you more loved and esteemed
than the expression of your best self.
So we say to you, young people, aside from the
satisfaction of being an honest boy—an honest girl—it
pays from every point of view to be honest. Do not
lead miserable lives of regret, with thwarted ambition
constantly torturing you because in a moment of
weakness and discouragement you gave way to temp
tation, and thereby destroyed your reputation for
honesty. No matter how dark the way, or how heavy
the heart, how sorely you are tempted, remember that
you cannot afford to make a turning point in your
lives and take the down grade.
Carry on, persist in maintaining an ambition to be
honest, strive to have a good reputation in all things
which are synonymous with having a good character.
Then you amount to something in the world and are
happy. Keep your record clear; do not prostitute
your ability nor gamble with your reputation.
Where, we may ask, in modern history, is there an
example of a man who exerted such a power for good,
who was such a living force in civilization, as was a
poor backwoods boy, Abraham Lincoln? In spite of
the ravages of time the reputation of Lincoln grows
larger and his character means more to the world every
year. It is because he kept his record clean, and
never prostituted nor gambled with his reputation.
What a powerful illustration of the fact that character
is the greatest force in the world.