If you find yourself in a strange environment, you may be surprised at seeing your character has strangely changed. Context, Malcolm Gladwell tells, is crucial to your character:
Character isn’t what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. It isn’t a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits. . . . Character is more like a bundle of habits and tendencies and interests, loosely bound together and dependent, at certain times, on circumstances and context. The reason that most of us seem to have a consistent character is that most of us are really good at controlling our environment.
(Quoted from page 41 of Man with a Blue Scarf: On sitting for a portrait by Lucian Freud, by Martin Gayford. Thames & Hudson, 2010.)
For a brief biography of Malcolm Gladwell, click here. For images of or relating to Malcolm Gladwell, click here.
For a brief biography of Martin Gayford, click here. For images of or relating to Martin Gayford, click here.
Post a comment
Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.
Your Information
(Name is required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)
Comments