Just say 'no,' Faramir

[Neferchoirwen]

3) because he knew what it had done to Boromir. Of course such a smart guy like Faramir would learn from other's mistakes, but there's also the fact that Faramir didn't think there was anyone in Gondor who could best Boromir, and so if Boromir fell to the Ring, how could he possibly weild it?

This is true. Faramir knows what kind of person his brother is, but he still loves him (I love the way the EE depicted this).

Although the duality that Boromir and Faramir represent is true for every person, this is not enought to explain why Faramir stuck to saying no to the ring. Boromir is next in line to being the Steward of Gondor, and as a ruler with constituents and territories to protect and reclaim, Boromir sees the Ring a tool to reclaim what rightly belongs to the Kingdom. It's all pointing towards Boromir's flaw when it comes to the resisting the Ring.

Faramir had never even seen the ring. If you saw something that you really wanted, would you want it more than someone who hasn't even seen it? We must give Boromir the credit that even though he fell to the temptation of the One Ring, he fell for the right reasons. However, Faramir avoided the Ring also for the 'right' reasons.

This could be right, and it interestingly questions the duality that Faramir and Boromir represent, with the ring as a central thing.

The real difference lies in their abilities to think of the consequences of giving into the ring.