Personality
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Abstract
I ESSENCE people are alike; in accidental makeup they are different. All men have souls, a direct and evident relationship to God; yet some are small of stature, untidy in their appearance, unclean in their health habits, impolite, coarse, loud, unthoughtful, untruthful, unfair, disrespectful, dishonest, unsympathetic, uncultured, unchristian and ignorant, while others are diametrically opposite in all these characteristicstheir mere bearing incites respect, faith, trust, confidence and love. Between these two extremes there are multiform variations and gradations of type. The various factors which make one man differ. ent from another constitute his personality; this accumulation of accidents, some inherited, but most of which are acquired, is what marks off and distinguishes one individual from another-it is what makes John John and Henry Henry; it is what holds some people in oblivion and impels others to success. Everyone can recall from his own experiences with mankind at least one example of each of the two types referred to above. Practically everyone has had experiences with the individual who is shriveled in body,. in soul, in spirit, and in mind; with the individual who is impolite, untruthful, unfair, disrespectful and ignorant; and again, each has had experiences with the individual who is sympathetic, courteous, fair, truthful and intelligent. Three questions, now, logically arise: (1) Which of these two types impresses one most? (2) Can personality be directed, shaped and moulded? and (3) How can it be directed? In regard to the first question the answer is 'evident. People are impressed, swayed and influenced by individuals of the second class. Suppose, for instance, that at two different times you are visited by two different agents for the same article. The first begins his attempt to sell by telling you that you do not know anything, by telling evident lies about his merchandise and about that of his competitors; by showing, upon being questioned, that he does not know anything about his article or about the same kind of articles sold by other dealers. Throughout the course of his sales talk he is coarse, loud, disrespectful, and uncultured. The second salesman is polite and courteous. He demonstrates the merits of his merchandise fairly and honorably; he answers all questions with fairness and with conviction; he does not ignorantly condemn all goods which are offered in competition to his. If you are in the market for this article, you will buy from the second agent because he gives evidence in everything that he does and says of possessing desirable personality traits; he has won your confid~ce and respect because of his attitude, his bearing, the sum total 0 f his characteristics. In short, this salesman has been able to make the sale wholly upon the strength of his personality, And so it is throughout the course of business-some good merchandise and much. inferior merchandise is sold daily, both to people who want it and to many who do not want it, because of the personality complex of the salesman. In politics, in the club, in committee meeting and in social organizations the leader, in the majority of cases, is the individual of mediocre intelligence who can talk fluently, who is fearless, who is polite, who has a magnetic personality, rather than the intelligent, learned individtia1 who is reserved, quiet and dominated by a less pleasing personality complex. Everybody wants to be well met. He wants to be recognized, to be flattered through words, through polite conduct towards him, through neat and tidy appearance in his presence, through a truthful, respectful, honest, thoughtful attitude towards him. The individual who can thus meet people is the one who will receive their adulations and their patronage. One often observes people of the. first type holding positions of prominence. This is because they are dual personalities, i.e., they are people of the first type camouflaged with a complex of the second. These people are dissemblers, holding positions of trust merely because of their hypocrisy. Nevertheless, the conclusion holds, namely, the individual who attains success is the one who possesses, above all things else, a pleasing personality, be it real or affected. (2) Personality can be created, developed and moulded.' As has been suggested previously, it is a composite made up of inherited and acquired characteristics. Among the former are the complexion, color of the hair, intellectual capacity, and size of the body, in so far as it is not caused by undernourishment or other environmental factors. Some of the acquired characteristics are the various attitudes towards cleanliness, courtesy, thoughtfulness, truthfulness, honesty, culture, Christianity, industry, work, and intellectual progression. The 'innate personality elements of an undesirable nature are the ones that are most difficult to modify. For example, if one is five feet three inches tall there is little he can do to make himself six feet two. But he can develop the habit 'of