A Character Sketch

 outline of the ideal person (somewhat based ont he life of toni russell). he kept his friends on the straight and narrow. he was invested in his friends. because to him they were assets. of all the assets in his life these were the highest. he had read all the virtues of the great philosophers especially the works of marcus aurelius, and the stoic and the greek philsophers. he had lofty thoughts, and wanted to raise not only himself but his friends in his ideals. he rigorously applied the ethics he had learnt in real life. to him there was no time to slip off the path and wander into foolish territory. he avoided drugs, alcohol, partying, overindulging in the senses. he was the kind of person that the other students looked up to, he had strong values. in school he was a debater and house captain, he was good at sports, not the best, but sufficient to keep a a healthy disposition and state of mind. what he brought to the school was a refinement in thought which not even the teachers were able to bestow on their kids, there was something magical in his personality. he believed firmly in the striving for his goal and the perfection of his life. he did not believe in wasting his time with distractions, distractions to him were the essence of destructive tendencies and the corruption of the mind. all his life he had singular goals, but like a good stoic he did not linger on them, he did not dote on them, he knew that once something was out of his hands, there was no use in fretting over it. at a time when people were jumping on the band wagon of the latest trends in technology and gadgets, he believed in universals which outlasted the purely material, what was essential to him was maintaining the right mindset, to lose is composure was thee greatest sin of all (distractions), even under the most strenuous of tasks, even under torture he would still hold fast to the tenets of his philosophy. as a result of his drivenness he often came across as arrogant to those who didn't know him or only just met him, only his peers truly understood his reasons for behaving in certain ways. when he was at school he met his ideal partner and they stayed together for the rest of their lives. he was dedicated to marriage and believed in producing good offspring, he believed that his wife was his soulmate, and that everything he did was to support her and his child. they did not get married until their thirties however. he made his made up the hierarchy steadily, not too quickly, like deadalus, but steadfast and regular. he worked hard at his creative work, to him the highest of all pursuits was to solve problems creatively, for him work consisted in being challenged, the sole purpose of work was to undertake new challenges, yet he was not vain or arrogant, he worked for it. despite being inherently a good person, he was not an idiot, in the sense of dostoevsk'is myschkin, he was not naive, he didnt believe in peoples unlimited kindness, he knew that every person had a dark side, and that people were manipulative in their nature as well. on the other hand he was neither paranoid in his dealings with people, he did not live his life in constant fear of being ripped off, betrayed, scammed, tricked, hustled or otherwise malused by strangers, he felt that others were still inherently good despite their dark sides and upon this he trusted. he believed firmly in a calling or vocation, not necessarily by god, as in a blueprint, but he did have some kind of teleological outlook on people s lives, often he conferred on his closest friends, certain duties or responsibilities in their circle, and he often made jokes about their personalities, because he knew them intimately. this knowledge of psychology was a particular strength to him he inherited from his mother who was an acute reader of others minds and behaviors. she was not only an accomplished businesswoman but a gregarious type who loved to throw parties. from childhood his mother often made him perform dances, songs, acts, stories, reading in front of his relatives or extended family or even family friends, it was this showmanship character which led toni to be very successful in his handling of people who he wanted to go into business with. he knew at first sight what their personalities were, he knew how to entertain them, how to please them, this was what brought him far in life. since a young age he kept his friends close to him and managed them as one did assets. he was always the leader of the pack, and always kept intruders or strangers out of his circle if they did not appreciate his strengths and values. this was something that started at a young age and remained with for his life. he believed also in the importance of maintaining intimate relations with his friends, and for many years he a had a best friend who he often disclosed personal information and insights of his own thought s to. of course when he got married this changed, and his wife became his best friend, she was the utmost a wife could be, someone who knew how to support her husband in dark times and was also fiercely independent and did not buckle easily under pressure. ( he always believed that your wife should dbe your best friend). he was kind and tender to his family, but also strict and did not indulge his kids or his wife, he wanted to instill in them the same values he had been instilled from his parents and so on. until he had his family, his friends were sort of prototypes of children in the sense that he often doted on them and wanted the best for them, as i have already said, he believed firmly in sharing his values and beliefs with them, because they were the essence of his being. without a firm, fixed system of belief he was nobody, and had no anchoring in the world. regarding his belief. he was not particularly politically minded either way, although one could say he was built up on conservative upbringing, he knew that openmindedness was key to success, he also did not believe in expressing strong views about things he knew could worsen his position in society, in that sense he was shrewd. he knew that times were constantly changing, and the attitudes to certain demographics and people he held and were influenced by in his younger years had to change over time, but of course his mind was not so open that his brain fell out. he knew that his values were key, as long as they did not interfere with the customs and beliefs of the people around him, or in his intermediate social range. he believed in universality, in tolerance, democracy, and openmindedness, these were essential to his way of thinking, much in the same way that many young and aspiring people were. but there was an additional spark to his thought, an underpinning, a wellspring of wisdom which ran contrary to popular thought, which resisted being assimilated into popular mainstream thinking, there was some aspect of his being which seemed to come from another world. it was something that possibly had been passed down in his fathers line, the russels for centuries, after all his paternal lineage was full of important and notable figures, form merchants to politicians, to engineers and architects.