Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
4. Sublime Character
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the principle: do as you have been done by. Such a
character might be termed a “knee-jerk character,”
for those possessed of such a character offer only
reflex responses to treatment by others, breaking
with those who break with them, wronging those
who wrong them, and harming those who harm
them.
But the higher level of character is based on the
principle: do as you would be done by. Those
possessed of such a character deal with both friend
and foe in the same principled manner, irrespective
of how they have been treated. They are
reconciliatory, even joining with those who break
with them. They are compassionate, even to those
who seek to harm them. They are forbearing, even
towards those who wrong them.
According to the French philosopher, Voltaire
(1694–1778), “No one is a hero to his valet.” The
reason for this is that a valet has access to a person’s
private life, and in private life no one is perfect.
Those close to a person usually do not hold him in
such high esteem as those who are further off. That
is why they cannot come to think of him as a hero.
