Lecture XXXIV (Nr. 0446)

[441] to the German sense, as just sort of something you describe when you describe any person; 2) and the other as an image, in a sense, of a stage or political personality. PT: That is a third meaning, usually called "character," or something like that. But "character" has a very negative side meaning today: "he is a character" is not always a praising word. This, by the way, I also learned here and didn’t know that this word could be used like that. If in German one says Er ist ein Charakter, this means he is full of character, you cannot betray him, you cannot put something over him, he can act and speak out of his own impregnation (Charakter means impregnation of a coin). A man with no impregnation has empty cheeks on which nothing is written, as sometimes young people have who have not developed very much... Then this

means "character." But I know "character" here means "an extraordinary phenomenon" [laughter] which deviates from the normal way of life a LITTLE bit, but not too much--he is still accepted but he is on the boundary line. [laughter]. Now your answer [about]... political "character": that, I would call political "figure"--he means something for the political scene. That, I would not call personality or character.--Now somebody else? STUDENT: Don't you think many use person in the sense of the singular of people; it is not-- PT: It is on an individual basis, not yet developed. I mean, a baby is a person, but he is not a personality--that makes it most clear, the difference. Now if this is the case, then I would LIKE-- how would you say it in English? Would you say a baby is a personality? STUDENT: His personality is not yet developed.