Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. - Samuel Johnson
integrity (noun)
1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness
As the conference continues to draw closer I find myself shifting my focus from Vision and Change to the more complex issue of Character. We can talk about strength of character but can we really know what that means until we are faced with impossible decisions?
My life philosophy centers around the concept of "choices and consequences", or the Karma concept of cause and effect. Character is clearly a key part of making that work. In particular, integrity as the foundation of a strong character, would need to guide all decisions, all choices.
So how do we truly get students to examine their character, to test their integrity, during a leadership conference that is only three days long? How do we say anything original? If we are untested ourselves, what value do we add?
I think the best we can say is that, life must be lived moment by moment - choice by choice - and then we need to spend significant time reflecting on the outcome. Integrity is not inherent, but rather cultivated. We cannot teach character, but we can teach the reflective processes that strengthen character. We cannot simply rush forward time after time without giving thought to our choices and consequences of the past. Using the daily lessons, reading literature, studying history, etc can all help us be best prepared when we come to face our tough choices, but it is only in those moments that we truly know who we are.
We are defined by the choices we make, and while our intentions are important, consequence follows choice - not intention.
