And such was the former midfielder's dedication, a character trait of some of the current Wales squad Toshack questioned as he stood down, he failed to answer just seven Wales calls in his 10-year international career.

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But the son did carry his father's formality into public life, a character trait accentuated by something detected by Charles Bartlett, the veteran political reporter from Chattanooga who observed Tennessee politicians for more than six decades.

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The trait most signally absent from his character is resignation, the passive acceptance of the given, the known, the status quo.

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In the investment management business courage goes unremarked as a character trait.

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"The No. 1 trait I was looking for was character, " Shafer said.

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The second is that many of these pranks seem to happen in the Northeast, leading me to think that passive aggressiveness may be a regional character trait.

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