Marmee-isms ~#11~ Character: The Best Possession

"He bore it as long as he could; but when he was appealed to for an opinion, he blazed up with honest indignation, & defended religion with all the eloquence of truth, ~ an eloquence which made his broken English musical, & his plain face beautiful. He had a hard fight, for the wise men argued well; but he didn't know when he was beaten, & stood to his colors like a man. Somehow, as he talked, the world got right again to Jo; the old beliefs, that had lasted so long, seemed better than the new; God was not a blind force, & immortality was not a pretty fable, but a blessed fact. She felt as if she had solid ground under her feet again; Jo wanted to clap her hands & thank him.

"She did neither; but she remembered this scene, & gave the Professor her heartiest respect, for she knew it cost him an effort to speak out then & there, because his conscience would not let him be silent. She began to see that character is a better possession than money, rank, intellect, or beauty; & to feel that if greatness is what a wise man has defined it to be, 'truth, reverence, & good-will,' then her friend Friedrich Bhaer was not only good, but great."

Little Women ~ Chapter 34 [emphasis mine, KW<><]

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><