Word: traits
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...study will shove the pendulum further away from the "radical environmentalism" of those who believe the characters of children are more or less created by their parents and environment. Lykken says Test Pilot Chuck Yeager is daring because he was "genetically endowed with a low scale of fearlessness," a trait that might have been redirected or tamped down but not eradicated. Says Psychologist Nancy Segal, a member of the project: "Parents can work to make a child less fearful, but they can't make that child brave...
...Robert's unceasing energy and passion; his grandfather Joseph's single-minded dedication to winning; and his uncle Ted's occasional inarticulateness, mitigated by only a touch of the bemused self-awareness that was part of the wit and style of his late uncle the President. But the Kennedy trait that carries Joe is the physical charisma and boundless (albeit often unfocused) energy that have become a family trademark...
Waite is also trusted by all sides to remain impartial and apolitical. "He has no political point of view whatsoever," says a British diplomat. "He carries out his missions from a strictly humanitarian point of view." Perhaps most important, Waite is a man known to guard confidences jealously. That trait has earned him the trust of not only Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Runcie but Gaddafi and Shi'ite kidnapers...
Honesty is a trait that has long marked Carter's music. So have obscurity, density and a resolute unwillingness to compromise. As one of the leading (and one of the last) exponents of academic serialism, a postwar compositional style marked by rigid mathematical organization of pitch and rhythm, Carter tends to be honored more in words than with performances. But his String Quartet No. 2 and No. 3 won Pulitzer Prizes in 1960 and 1973, and a hard core of enthusiasts rapturously greets each new work. The Second Quartet treated each instrument as an individual; the Third paired them...
...dogs, says Serpell, have characteristics compatible with humans. The wolf, a forerunner of today's dog, has strong pack instincts, an attribute that made attachment to early human groups relatively easy. Cats are highly territorial, making them suitable pets for the permanently settled. Both species share the desirable trait of eliminating their wastes outside their dens. Less tangible is the "cute response." Serpell's sources suggest that the pudgy features of all young mammals elicit sympathetic and nurturing reactions from adults...