When Goethe contemplated the transitoriness
of conditions, and in all his work endeavored to catch and
preserve these fleeting phenomena, or when Hebbel defined man
as the resultant of conflicting forces rather than as an effective
force in himself, both evidently thought of life as a product, not
as a producer, and sought the meaning of life in personal
reaction rather than in personal action. The life of which the
German desires abundance is the inner life. Character is to him
a greater good than conduct.

How does one judge character, except by conduct?

Even as I could say that someone 'not doing anything' gives a sense of character, we do compare to a history when an action is called "out of character"... but is that to specific acts or to a general *flavor?

"Life as a product" stands in *reflection of "the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts".