Essay on Character for Class 5-12 (2026)
Good manners shape a person's character, which is the best asset, reflecting Mother Teresa's humanitarian legacy of human life. The real identity of a man lies in his character, and not in his wealth, power, or appearance. But it is such a thing which does not come down at man's feet from heavens; he has to achieve it.
To give a simplified definition of character, it can be said that character is the disciplined and beautiful form of man's mentality and behavior which makes him not only modest confident friendly, and happy, but also acceptable and pleasing to other people with whom he interacts. It is bright with the heavenly light of truth and humanity, soft with the beauty of forgiveness, strong with the strength of imperturbability and patience.
As has been said earlier, the mentality and system of behavior that develops within a man as a unique combination of various human qualities are called character. Of these qualities the most notable are kindness, love, forgiveness, patience, sympathy, helping attitude, benevolence, self-education and well-educatedness, amiability, broad-mindedness, imperturbability, and flexibility.
Generally, all these qualities are not found in a man's character at a specific point in time. That is why he has to continue to build up his character lifelong. And this way even a man-on-the-street can turn to be a great man in the future. But even then the task of building up a character does not come to an end.
Since the character is something which has to be learned and earned all through the life, a child can not inherit it, nor can It achieve it by birth. The environment in which a child lives directly or indirectly influences its mental tendencies, belief, conduct, behavior and so on.
Consequently, all the external influential features of the environment determine the form of its character in the future. This warns us by the fact that we should try to create a favorable atmosphere in which a child will grow up and almost automatically and spontaneously build up its character little by little.
It is, however, true that a child inherits some features of its character from its forefathers to some extent. But both the qualitative and the quantitative intensity of such unearned qualities are of small importance. The thing which plays the first role in building up its character is the external, identifiable elements of the environment.
This is because a child does not learn to think at first, rather, what it learns is to mimic what it sees and feels. And there being little creative tendency of such mimicry, the child accepts and follows those behavioral features of others as an ideal and gradually tries to retain them. Thus it assimilates the examples it sees and eventually considers them as a part of its own personality and individuality.
As a result, those behavioral aspects get reinforced in it and at a stage of its mental development, the child becomes totally indifferent to the behavioral pattern it has acquired from the environment; and when it grows up, it rationalizes those patterns even if they were bad and harmful.
As a matter of fact, in this stage, it is really a tough task to correct those behaviors. What all this implies is that the behavioral pattern of any person should be purposefully guided and controlled from the very childhood.
The most effective way of building up a child's character is not teaching by words but by examples. And the incongruity between oral teaching and teaching by examples will catch the child in a bewilderment, and it is most likely that the child will eventually follow the examples, rejecting the oral advice.
There should be a suitable atmosphere--both in the family and the society--so that a person can easily and successfully continue to build up his character all through his life. It is to be ensured that teen-agers mix with good boys and girls and involve themselves in no harmful or bad activities.
The importance of character needs no mentioning. It is the only thing by which the greatness or meanness of a man is and should be evaluated. Wealth, appearance, power, status and of these does not certify a man as great or small. Even education and knowledge are not as important as character is. Virtually, a man should become a human; he is not so by birth.
Animals and birds are animals and birds by birth; trees are by birth what they are, but humans have to strive much to become real humans. Here lies the main distinction between man and any other creation of the universe. The character is so important that it should be prioritized over all other mundane gains in life. Because:
When money is lost.
nothing is lost;
When health is lost,
something is lost;
when character is lost,
everything is lost.
In order to be happy, successful, confident, and winning in the personal life, the character is a must. In order to be influential and venerated in social life, the character is a must. To ensure peace and peaceful coexistence in international life, the character is a must. character wins all.
Character glows and glistens in the darkness of the tough and abstruse desert of the life, as a diamond brightly glows in the darkness of night. We should try to see that light, to feel it, and to produce it more and more. It is to be borne in mind that a man who has no character is inferior to any beast.
