> People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display character, a quality which sometimes loses ground to more instantly

> People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display character, a quality which sometimes loses ground to more instantly negotiable virtues. > One tends to think of it only in connection with homely children and with United States senators who have been defeated, preferably in the primary, for re-election. > Nonetheless, character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self-respect springs. (Mildly edited)