Personality Psychology . Texts / Edited by. Yu. B. Gippenreiter, A. A. Bubble. M. Published in Moscow State University, 1982. C. 231-234. To say of a man simply that he has character is not only to say very much about him, but also to say much in praise of him, for it is a rarity that arouses in others respect and surprise. If by this word one means at all what a given person undoubtedly possesses, whether it be good or bad, one usually adds to this that he has a nepotism or some other character, and then this word denotes the way in which he feels. But simply having character means having that property of the will by which the subject makes certain practical principles obligatory for himself, which he prescribes to himself with his own mind as something unchangeable. Although these principles are sometimes false and erroneous, yet the formal in will in general, namely, [the rule] to act according to firm principles (and not to rush here and there like a cloud of mosquitoes) contains something valuable and worthy of surprise, therefore it is rare. Here the main thing is not what nature makes of man, but what he makes of himself; for the first relates to temperament (and the subject is mostly passive) and only the second indicates that he has character.