Developing sound character takes work — a lot of work. The hardest part is being honest with oneself, examining one’s conscience and one’s track record, especially under adversity.

Bullies and their victims are as much iconic figures in school life as rock stars and cowboys. Lately anti-bullying crusaders have spoken out against bullying in all its forms. As laudable as these measures are, I fear denunciation and zero-tolerance policies at schools do not address the difficult truths of bullying.

We seem to have lost something. What it might be is hard to say. But it has something to do with our willingness to reckon with the truth.

Among the long list of behavioral quirks ascribed to therapists is the tendency to answer a client’s question with a question or to duck the query by other means. Understanding the reasons why therapists avoid answering questions can make this tendency less galling and shed some light on the therapeutic process.

Quite apart from the question of whether human beings in a deterministic world can be said to be free — and what that means for moral responsibility — the idea remains that we all have it within us to be more than just a slave to our fears and desires.

Making choices and commitments is part of life: even when we think we’ve avoided making a decision, that in itself is a choice. But is ‘choosing not to make a choice’ really the best way to approach life?

Charlie Sheen and Bernie Madoff are just two of the latest examples showing that yes, character really does matter. As I state in the title of one of my books, character disturbance is the phenomenon of our age.