Fortune Cookies That Confuse

Jon and I were eating bad Chinese buffet the other day. I got the following fortune:

Character is to man what carbon is to steel.

Naturally, this confused me. Everyone knows that carbon fiber is lighter than steel, but sometimes a bit more fragile. How this relates to character in man, though? Baffling!

Then, to cap the bafflement, Jon got this fortune:

Character cannot be purchased, bargained for, inherited, rented or imported from afar.

If carbon is to character, it can, too, be bought, sold, and all of the above.

I am certain that this would make sense after several beers.