Character

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Character is what you really are. Reputation is what people say you are. Reputation is often based on character -- but not always.

Character is how you react to things -- sensibly, without getting carried away by yourself or your circumstances. A person of character is trustworthy and honest, and for a dollar he or she will give you a dollar.

The other kind of person looks for the easy way out.

I like to think the players I coached, however they came to UCLA, left as men of character. But in truth, if they didn't have it when they came, I couldn't give it to them. By then it was too late. That's a job for a mother and father."

John Wooden