What is character? What is character? What is character? Yes. The definition of character. Yes, okay. What part does the following play in making a character of a nation? I see. Religion, knowledge, society, economy and finally politics. Yes, they take a very important part. They play a very important role in making the character of a people. In fact, almost all that is required for making a character, whatever you understand by the word character, is provided by the factors we have just enumerated.
All these factors are very important factors which go a long way towards making the character of a people. That is, there is no doubt about it. And as far as the character is concerned, character means, you know it can mean so many things, but here in this context, it means a personality distinct from others, bearing certain features which have the connotation of distinguishing that people from other people. So although all the various nations of the world have many things in common with each other, but when you say this is characteristic of the Germans or this is characteristic of the British, here the character acquires this meaning which I have just mentioned.
That although character comprises almost everything of which a personality is made, but in this regard it means distinctive features of a people. So all these factors, as you have mentioned, they play a very important role in making distinctive features of a people and put together, interplay with each other, they create various characters. But what made you think of this complicated question? How did you come upon this? The thing is, my own life. I was born in Pakistan, went to East Africa, lived there for 24 years and knew the customs and habits and character of those people.
Then I came to this country and I found another world altogether in respect of character, habits and all this. So all these things were in my mind to find out how these people, for example, these people have got in some of the countries, I would not mention any country, but people steal for certain small things. People do what? Steal for minor things. Yes. But in this country I have seen the character of these people. The bottles of milk are lying, nobody touches. Or anything which is outside your house, nobody touches.
So how do these things make a character of a nation? Yes, you have just pointed out rightly that not one single factor is responsible for carving out characters of people. But all these factors put together, economic, religious, social background and climates as well, in fact, geography also plays some role in that. There are so many factors. So as far as this stealing of milk is concerned, it is unnecessary for them. Too big a risk involved for too little a thing, too small a thing. Nobody would care. But as far as the real meaningful stealing is concerned, that is plentiful here. No shortage of that. You know, rate of burglary is on the increase.
And, you know, mugging, this is an American idiom but it is now understood everywhere. Mugging is becoming quite common. And other heinous crimes of so different natures are, in fact, destroying this society. They are mounting to a very dangerous level after which, you know, people may suffer ultimate and total destruction. So if you mean that by quoting this example of not stealing milk, that they are, despite all, everything, they are very pure and simple people and they stand at a much higher level of morality than the rest of the nations, this is wrong.
