Although I think it is possible that one learns more from example than from words. If I tell a young person to always tell the truth, but then I go and lie, what will he learn? That he has to tell others to tell the truth, but he himself can lie from time to time. The best way to teach someone discipline is, in my opinion, to be self-disciplined oneself.
I agree in principle.
That would require a human being who never fails to act correct. Since such a person does not exist and every human being once in a while fails to act accordingly to a principle, you will be judged by your failure, no matter how often you've been virtuous.
To act as a more experienced and more self disciplined role model, you are not free from errors and the one who observes you in your behavior as a role model, this one needs to also see you taking on the correction of someone else, since it will happen anyway that one fails. The very act of letting a younger one see that the role model is open for being corrected, is to me as valuable as to see the role model in being the corrector. This involves verbal communication as well as acted out behavior.
Yes, but I think that when we make mistakes there is also an opportunity to deal with them in a correct and tolerant way. Thus, despite sometimes making mistakes, we can serve both as an example of how to deal with mistakes, and how to turn errors (which are fundamentally undesirable) into something positive. We can exemplify how mistakes are not the end of the world and how we can pick ourselves up after falling.
I think that many times examples like this can be very valuable.
I agree with this.