--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - H. Herkomer collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 5 number: 2 published: 1901-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'H. Herkomer, "A Definition of Character," *Improvement Era* 5, no. 2 (December 1901): 104–105.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0502unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0502unse start_page: 104 end_page: 105 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1901-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0502unse publication_year: 1901 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1901, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # A Definition of Character A Definition of Character. In art, character is everything. I have seen many who have been able to do good work, who possessed the art faculty, of — — CHOICE SELECTIONS. 105 whom people would say, "What clever fellows!" Their work pos- sessed promise, yet in the long fight, they lost because they lacked character. You will ask me what I mean by character. I mean, first, morality. — No man has gained anything by bad habits, drink, late hours, or bad company. Prof. Hubert Herkomer, the Painter.