Who do you think has exemplary character?
Asked by
phoenyx (
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June 13th, 2009
Here’s an example of what I mean. I just came across this video again today and it got me thinking. Fred Rogers wasn’t particularly charismatic, but he somehow had a powerful influence on other people: bringing celebrities to tears, goosebumps to gruff senators, and feelings of self-worth to children. There was something about who he was (his character), I think, that made him so remarkable.
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14 Answers
I am repeatedly struck by the unsung, salt-of-the-Earth people all around us. One recent example that I found very moving was that people came from all over the US to go to the Holocaust Museum the day it reopened after the killing there. They said they came because terror and hatred could not win. Some had been there the day of the shooting and came back.
Fred Rogers is one of my heroes. I can’t believe I left him off my list. I must rectify that omission right now.
I’ve read interviews with him and profiles of him, and I believe he was the genuine article, a truly kind, perceptive, insightful man with a genius for expressing complex human emotions in simple terms and a tender empathy for all that troubles and delights the human heart.
When I first allowed my preschooler to watch television, I sat with him and watched MisteRogers and Sesame Street for two weeks, and discussed them with him, before I was at ease letting him watch them on his own. Those two won my confidence. I watched them with my children whenever I was free to do it. This was in the mid-80’s.
People who said Mr. Rogers was boring had forgotten how to put their heads inside childhood. But he never did.
Hm. The first person to pop into my mind was Morrie Schwartz, from Tuesdays with Morrie. Though that’s a little cliche, I guess.
The first person to pop into my mind was Atticus Finch, but he’s not real. :(
Doris Haddock (aka ‘Granny D.”)
@MacBean: Ooh, agreed. But yeah, there’s the whole “fictional” issue.
Some years back, my friend “A” lived in the same building where Mr Rogers had a pied-à-terre in New York, on 56th Street. “A” told me that he was the same off the air as on, and when he spoke to you, he spoke to you. He listened to you, and he was a walking, talking example of empathy in action. “A” also told me that Mrs Rogers was just as kind.
I think the man was a Bodhisattva, myself, and I’m glad I was able to grow up seeing his show as a child.
Former Pres. George W. Bush
Sarah Palin.
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