What Kind of Character?

"Maybe you're not a lecherous youth pastor, a hypocritical abstinence counselor, or a thieving neighbor.  But you are something.  A backbiting friend?  An insecure bully of a father?  An unfaithful husband? A resentful wife? What?  Trot out your thoughts, every last one, no matter how tiny, no matter how fleeting, no matter how awful or pornographic.  Project them on a screen for the viewing public.  We'd have you pegged in a heartbeat-just as you'd be able to peg us.  A good  author could even work with the unhidden things, the things you're actually willing for the rest of us to see.  Are you a whining fusser?  Do you complain about the weather?  Do you know how much work went into that weather system?  Maybe you resent any obstacle, anything that makes your day longer or harder.  You think you're underappreciated.  You, with the way you think about everyone else around you (your mother, your siblings, coworkers, or even your spouse), feel undervalued.  What exactly is your value?  Would the planet miss you if you ceased to be?  Would the human race falter?" N.D. Wilson, Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl, p. 33