We
mistake strong feelings for strong character. A man who bears all before
him—before whose frown domestics tremble, and whose bursts of fury make
the
children of the house quake—because he has his will obeyed and his own
way in
all things, we call him the strong man. The truth is, that is the weak
man: it
is his passions that are strong; he, mastered by them, is weak. You must
measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings be subdues,
not by
the power of those which subdue him. And hence composure is often the
highest
result of strength. Did we never see a man receive a flagrant insult,
and only
grow a little pale, and then reply quietly? That was a man spiritually
strong.
Or did we never see a man in anguish stand as if carved out of solid
rock,
mastering himself? Or one bearing a hopeless daily trial remain silent,
and
never tell the world what it was that cankered his home peace? That is strength. He who, with strong
passions, remains chaste—he who, keenly sensitive, with manly power of
indignation in him, can be provoked, yet can restrain himself and forgive—these are strong men, spiritual heroes.
(New York Observer)
“There is something higher than the
making of wealth; there is the making of men.”
~ A. M. Fairbairn