character

That which a person is as demonstrated by his acts and utterances, whether good or bad from the standpoint of morals; reputation. Michelson v United States, 335 US 469, 93 L Ed 168, 69 S Ct 213. Character consists of the qualities which constitute the individual, while reputation is the aura of opinions entertained concerning him. The former is interior; the latter external. The one is the substance; the other the shadow. Character is what a person is. Reputation is what people say of him. But notwithstanding this distinction which is everywhere agreed upon, the two words are sometimes used, even by judges, as synonymous. United States v Hrasky, 240 Ill 560, 88 NE 1031. "Character" is frequently used interchangeably with "reputation." In a legal sense, it means reputation as distinguished from "disposition." Character grows out of particular acts, but is not proved by them, since a person may, under the stress ufspecial circumstances, do a thing which is contrary to his ordinary disposition and practice. The method of proving character is by showing the general reputation of the person in the neighborhood in which he lives. What is thus proved, therefore, is not a person's real character, but his character as reputed among his neighbors, or what the consensus of opinion of the neighbors is as to his character. Anna: 10 ALR 9. Another and distinct meaning of the term "character" is that of a recommendation given an employee upon his leaving service. 35 Am J1st M & S § 39.