Well, when the above statement speaks of characteristics one was born with, it is alluding to the idea of us inheriting a certain set of traits from our parents. As advanced as our science and genetics may appear, thus far we have only genotyped a very small proportion of our genetic make-up. While the semantics of relating our character to our family are cute, when people state you are just like your father and mother, it is far from a scientifically proven fact. The whole nature VS nurture argument and ‘we are what happens to us’ is still very much an active debate. According to many tests made on new born humans all over the world, babies are apparently born with two common fears, one is the fear of falling, the other is fear of a loud sound and the rest are supposedly all learnt fears and behaviors.
      I feel that what happens to us, how and where we are raised has far more impact on our character, mental capabilities, value system and principles than ‘what we happen to be born with’. I also want to point out that there is a massive difference between just growing up and actually being raised, the latter being less and less common these days. I attribute it to increasingly split family models, parents working too much and controlling kids by giving them a phone or a tablet, which is sadly seen as an easy solution by most modern parents.