Become the person habit by habit

Personal & Social Development · Ethics & Philosophy · ages 16-18

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Courage sits between which two failings?
- Running away and charging in blindly
- Fear and hunger
- Youth and old age
What is a virtue?
- A strict rule for one case
- A lucky result
- A steady habit of feeling and acting well
Virtues are built slowly, by repeated choice.
Circle one: True False
Why do rules and calculations both miss the ordinary parts of life?
- Ordinary life has no habits
- Rules forbid ordinary life
- Rules say what to do and sums say what to get, but neither says who to be
What does this approach offer that rules and outcomes do not?
- It asks what kind of person your habits are making
- It gives much faster verdicts
- It counts happiness far better
Jun keeps small promises and admits mistakes fast. What is he training?
- Reliability and honesty, one kept word at a time
- Fame and fortune
- Speed and strength
Leo says he built honesty with one big truth last year. What is wrong with his claim?
- Big truths never count
- One act never builds a habit, since virtues need repeated choice
- Honesty needs no practice
Mara wants to train generosity. Which plan fits this approach?
- Give a little regularly at a set trigger until it feels natural
- Wait years for one grand gift
- Give only when others are watching

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Running away and charging in blindly · Too little nerve flees, too much nerve charges blind. Courage holds the middle ground.
A steady habit of feeling and acting well · Virtues live in character, not in rule books or scoreboards. Courage and honesty are habits first.
True · True. Nobody becomes honest in a day. The middle must be chosen until it sticks.
Rules say what to do and sums say what to get, but neither says who to be · Most days hold no grand decision, only small repetitions. Only character language describes those well.
It asks what kind of person your habits are making · Rivals settle cases while ignoring the agent. This view keeps the person becoming someone in frame.
Reliability and honesty, one kept word at a time · Each kept promise lays down reliability, and each owned mistake lays down honesty.
One act never builds a habit, since virtues need repeated choice · A single act, however large, is not a steady habit. Character is a record, not a moment.
Give a little regularly at a set trigger until it feels natural · Habits grow from repetition with a trigger, not from rare gestures or an audience.