From the Sublime to the Ridiculous is But One Step We consider wisdom and nonsense as mutually incompatible concepts which arouse diametrically opposite emotions in us. But in reality, they may be very close to each other and more or less evenly balanced. It may be assumed that they are separated by a very thin notional line which can at times be breached, thereby confusing the distinction between them. Hence, unless...

Lilies that Fester Smell Worse than Weeds Beauty and other physical attributes are, by nature, fragile, and hence, will not last forever. They should, therefore, not be used as standards for judging either the personality or the caliber of people. As time passes, the weakening of such qualities causes the decline of the most popular and powerful people. The decline of their physical attributes will be more severe than that of...

Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for a loan of loses both itself and friend We should always live within our means. Being ambitious by nature, however, we often seek more than what we need or deserve. When we seek help from others, we create an inconvenience for them, as well as an obligation on our part to return their favours suitably. Moreover, much ill-will is generated if we fail...

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; but writing an exact man By helping its interpretation and expression, language plays an important role in spreading knowledge. The functions related to a language, like reading, speaking, and writing, have varying importance in the exercise. Whereas reading. as the least active of the functions, is useful only in acquiring knowledge, speaking and writing, with their additional facilities for expression and explanation,...

Waste not, Want not  We depend entirely on Nature for our survival. Unlike plants, we humans, along with other animals, are incapable of producing food independently. We are, therefore, unable to replenish what we consume. As Nature’s wealth is limited in quantity, we may reach a stage when we shall have used up all that we need to survive. We may not have started feeling the pinch of scarcity yet, because...

If wealth is lost, nothing is lost; if health is lost, something is lost; but if the character is lost, everything is lost Nothing is more important to us than our character. It gives us our distinct identity in society. Our behavior, which is a reflection of our character, marks us off as good or bad individuals. Unlike certain attributes like material wealth, social status, and education, which we acquire during...

A Miss is as Good as a Mile Foretelling the future or accurately predicting the courses of our lives may be impossible. But, we can be reasonably certain that our future lives are greatly influenced by what we choose or decide to do in the present. Though our choices are usually simple and limited –often we only have to decide whether to do or not to do something — owing to...

Make hay while the sun shines We should make full use of our opportunities. Those of us who do the right things at the right time have better chances to be successful in life than those who do not. Though there are enough opportunities for all of us, there are not too many to serve the needs of each, forever. It is, therefore, natural that periods of fortune and misfortune will...