Character is best forged by Mental Pain

Thanks so much for taking this debate, easy2know. I'm sure we'll both learn something by the end of it! I'll first address your points and then I'll address my topic statement and show support for it. I'm not quite sure why you disagree with the word 'solely'...I think it IS important because that is exactly my point...in other words, to be a well-rounded person takes experiencing both sides of an equation. 'Solely' infers 'only'. So maybe my opening argument should read 'but to only be concerned'...Because life is about 'pursuing' the positive. You mentioned a 'force' that guides us. In every creed, religion, belief system, there is always two sides: dark/light, yin/yang, good/evil, optimism/pessimism. You cannot have one without the other. To acknowledge the other side is not necessarily to side with it. I am an optimist as well. However, if I did not recognize evil, or risk, or negatives, how can I know when to hold em, fold em, fight or walk away? You cannot truly know the other side unless you experience it. Reading about Hawaii is not the same as being there. You may 'know' it exists, but without experiencing it you can't truly 'know' it. The following are secondary points but need addressing. On the subject of personal experiences, I have to disagree. The world is a big place. To base your argument on 'individual' experiences is, I believe, short-sighted. It may work for YOU, personally. But is it an accurate picture of the world as it is ? You're experiences are unique to you and do not necessarily correspond to the world as a whole. They are also colored by your upbringing, mental processes, values, etc. which may not reflect the world as a whole. Your insistence of their being a 'guiding' force for example. While you and I may believe in the same 'guiding force', what about an atheist who has no guiding force ? Your experience would not necessarily pertain to them. That is where studies and statistics come in. statistics-A collection of measurements, often related to demographic information such as population counts, incomes, population counts at different ages, etc.-Wictionary.org Statistics typically use a LARGE sampling of a group scientifically determined to represent a particular 'set'. Secondly, lawyers do not 'twist' facts 'to suit their need to succeed'. I realize you said 'some' and their are bad apples in every profession. However, I feel lawyers are unfairly maligned. Lawyers swear an oath : "I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and will never seek to mislead the judge or jury by an artifice or false statement of fact or law;" Also, " I will abstain from all offensive personality, and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, UNLESS REQUIRED BY THE JUSTICE OF THE CAUSE WITH WHOM I AM CHARGED; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any person's cause for lucre or malice." -excerpt from the Lawyer's Oath What this means is that they have to fight for their clients' rights. Whether or not THEY believe that the client is guilty. Remember, THEY don't pass judgement...a jury or judge does that. That goes directly to our Constitution and 'innocent until PROVEN guilty'. OJ was found not guilty by a 'jury of his peers', not his lawyer. Some people allow adversity to 'harden' their heart, as you put it. And VOILA! That is what I'm talking about. You CANNOT know what you will do, who you REALLY are until you experience adversity. Because you cannot know what you truly will do until you are in that situation. If, having experienced adversity, you come out of it a stronger person, with a stronger faith and belief in what matters to you, your CHARACTER becomes stronger. Like Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars movies, he was all well and good until he experienced pain and loss...and went over to the dark side. Even Jesus was tempted by the devil, and he came out of it whole. Take the story of Job; God PERSONALLY set upon throwing every nasty thing at him...and he became stronger for it. So, adversity is the final test...if it doesn't kill you (harden your heart) it makes you stronger. There's alot of truth in that. But if you never experience it you are at a disadvantage the first time you do. You've seemed to confused my position in that I'm against niceness. I'm not. I'm against 'naiveness'...Because what you DON"T know CAN hurt you. But to go back to my topic statement, Character is Best Forged by Mental Pain, it is true. Because anybody can smile when things are going good. It's when things are bad and you still smile because it will help someone, THAT is strong character.