“What is ‘personality’? Webster interprets the meaning of the word as ‘individuality,’ but like many words that assume added meanings through common usage, personality also has acquired the suggestion of a quality not covered by the word ‘individuality.’
You may be discussing a person you dislike very much, one who holds ideas that are rather loathsome, and while you might readily admit that such a person might be ‘individual,’ you would never for a moment say ‘So-and-so has personality.’ Why? Because the word ‘personality’ has grown to mean magnetic power, the sort of power that consciously or unconsciously dominates and controls the individuals with whom it comes in contact. It is this magnetic power that is at the root of every successful career.
Review the life of any great individual. You will find that their success was the result, not only of careful study and of perseverance, but, more than all, of the subtle influence of personal magnetism. They succeeded because their personality convinced people that they were sincere, that they were strong, someone who could be relied upon. Without a well-developed personality, their good qualities would have lain unnoticed, and they would have been only another in the struggling, discouraged thousands.”
-Clare Tree Major
