I have often thought about this fact about myself and I do agree, I think most of the weight of influence falls on my parents when it comes to certain character traits which I have developed as an individual - not all good ones... but for me, some of the most positive influence I have had in my life has come from authors and specific books I have read. They have helped me to change things about myself that I was not happy with, as well as to try and better myself as an individual.

I think my "actions" over the years have been influenced by those around me - such as friends and acquaintances - but not really my character. I have never really been one to try and be like others, mostly because a lot of the time, though we could happily socialise, I realised that more often than not, I did not really "connect with" or "like" certain aspects of others' characters... so perhaps the "not wanting to be like them" was more of an influence for me :)