Character Strengths

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

— Hellen Keller

Using the VIA Institute on Character’s Character Strength Profile tool, the following top 10 character strengths we identified:

Curiosity (WISDOM)
Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.
Self-Regulation (TEMPERANCE)
Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined; controlling one's appetites and emotions.
Honesty (COURAGE)
Speaking the truth but more broadly presenting oneself in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one's feelings and actions.
Love (HUMANITY)
Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing & caring are reciprocated; being close to people.
Humour (TRANSCENDENCE)
Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; seeing the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes.
Love of Learning (WISDOM)
Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one's own or formally; related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows.
Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence (TRANSCENDENCE)
Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.
Kindness (HUMANITY)
Doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them.
Creativity (WISDOM)
Thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it.
Perseverance (COURAGE)
Finishing what one starts; persevering in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in completing tasks.