Review Archives — In Character, A Journal of Everyday Virtues by the John Templeton Foundation

Stoicism Is Just So Yesterday

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 06/14/10

A new biography of Marcus Aurelius finds the great thinker's philosophy no fun at all. But a good dose of stoicism might be just what we need.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 06/07/10

The Vietnam War changed the cinematic hero. Catch-22 was the first war film to celebrate a shirker.

Speakeasy Plutarch

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 06/01/10

Dan Okrent's new book suggests that Prohibition should be regarded an America's greatest venture into social engineering. Making alcohol hard to get was the one thing that it didn't do.

A Jesuit priest makes a difference

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 05/24/10

David Rieff reviews a book by Father Gregory Boyle, who works with gang members in Los Angeles. Father Boyle says that love is not for the faint of heart.

Kingdom of Heaven Meets Monty Python in Latest Ridley Scott Flick

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 05/18/10

Scott didn't simply want to retell the story of the cocky archer of Sherwood Forest who captured the imagination of Elizabethan balladeer, Victorian children's writers, or previous swashbuckling movies. He had a message...from Hollywood.

Eschewing the Fat

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 05/10/10

Urban Hermit Sam MacDonald lived on lentils and tuna. His friends told him it was a bad plan. You decide.

Keeping Up with the Joneses. Or Not.

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 04/26/10

Many critics have seen Derrick Borte's new movie The Joneses as a critique of consumer society. Emily Colette Wilkinson says it's really about American imposters.

Theodore Dalrymple's new book explores malaise European-style.

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 04/21/10

"It is strange," Dalrymple notes, "that Europe should be the sick man of Europe. In many ways, things have never been better on the old continent."

David Brooks on the "boardroom lion" versus the "humble hound"

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 04/12/10

Even if New York Times columnist David Brooks had not cited In Character, I would be recommending that you read his excellent and counterintuitive column on humility and business leadership.

Bomb Squad Brave

Charlotte Hays | Posted on 04/05/10

Staff Sgt. William James in "The Hurt Locker" has physical courage in abundance. But is it possible that he is a coward?

In This Section…