Essay on “Child is The Father of Man” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The child is The Father of Man

5 Best Essays on “Child is the Father of Man”

Essay No. 01

The statement ‘Child is the father of the Man’ may seem strange-but these are the words of the celebrated Romantic poet of England, William Wordsworth, and are full of meaning and truth of life.

If we think a little deeper, we’ll realize that child is a man-in-the-making and a man is only a grown-up child. In other words, the growth from childhood to manhood is continuous, symmetrical, spontaneous, and natural.

This is simple words mean that the traits of childhood continue in manhood. In other words, if we want to have better men, we must first have better children. If we pay no attention to the child, he grows into a worthless youth and equally or even more worthless man.

A child’s mind is like a clean slate. Whatever is written on it, its imprint continues on his mind forever in life. A child is greatly influenced by the milieu and environment in which he lives. If his parents are quarrelsome and aggressive by nature, he grows almost like them. If they are religiously minded, he acquires the same traits.

Some children suffer from want, lack of affection, and neglect. Such children cannot develop a good and lovable personality. We may read carefully the words Anant Waraich on child psychology as given below:

“Child is the father of man” is a common proverb which literally explains the practical importance of child psychology. A nation depends upon the care and upbringing of children. The future of tomorrow’s society depends upon the physiological and psychological development of today’s children. Child psychology therefore assumes importance for all those who are interested in the healthy development of a child’s personality.”

Anant Waraich  

( 280 Words )

Essay No. 02

The child is the father of the Man

Outline: The meaning of the remark – the importance of childhood – some examples – exceptions to the rule – conclusion.

This paradoxical line of Wordsworth expresses a profound truth. It means that all the qualities, mental, moral, and physical, which will be found in the future man are potentially present in the child. Just as the future tree pre-exists in the sprout, the future man pre-exists in the child.

Childhood is the most impressionable period of a man’s life. It is a period when his essential character is being shaped. The qualities which a child inherits from his parents, combined with those which he develops as a result of his upbringing, begin to manifest themselves in the early years. Bearing this fact in mind, parents, and teachers should try to mold the character of children, taking care of their health and surrounding them with good influences. According to modern psychology, the experiences of childhood have a lasting influence. Some of these experiences lie buried in the deeper mind of the grown-up man and influence his behavior without his knowledge.

Several examples bear out the truth of the remark that the child is the father of the man. Napoleon as a boy was fond of building forts of snow and storming or defending them, thus foreshadowing his later remarkable achievement as a General. When Nelson was a child he was once asked if he had no fear. He replied ” Fear! what is it? I never knew fear. ” This child was destined to become the courageous hero of Trafalgar. Shivaji as a boy showed a keen interest in politics and was fond of hearing stories from the Indian epics. Macaulay who is famous for his astonishing memory read a lot even as a schoolboy and remembered all that he had read. That is why in his writings he frequently uses the expression “As every schoolboy knows”—which makes us uneasy because we do not know what this schoolboy knows.

There are, of course, exceptions. Some men of genius do not seem to have given early indications of their future greatness. Many English poets like Wordsworth and Shelley were pronounced dunces at school. In some cases, the promise shown in childhood may not be fulfilled owing to adverse circumstances. Again, as is proved by the lives of some saints, certain experiences in later life may transform a man’s character and change the direction of his life. However, even in all these cases, we cannot confidently assert that there was no suggestion of future greatness in the childhood of such men.

It cannot be denied that later experiences play an important part in molding a man’s personality. But, generally speaking, though, they only modify the character already formed by inherited qualities and childhood experiences. It is very rare that they radically change the character of a man. The general truth or Wordsworth’s line cannot be doubted.

( 486 Words )

Essay No. 03

The Child is The Father of Man

This statement has been given by Words Worth. It contains a great truth of life. According to this statement, the child shows the man as the morning shows the day. Whatever habits a child acquires in his childhood continue to remain with him when he grows up. Whether a child will become a scholar, a politician or a trouble-shooter becomes clear from his interests and activities in his early life. Childhood is an impressionable period of life. We can mold his character according as we want. If a child is taught good things in life he will naturally grow into a good man. We can’t expect much of a child who is given to telling lies and pilfering things. Great men show their greatness in their childhood. History is full of such examples as prove the truth of the fact. Hence a child should cultivate good habits so that he may grow into a man with a difference.

( 160 Words )

Essay No. 03

The child is the Father of Man

“Child is the father of man”, is a part of a poem written by William Wordsworth. He wrote it with regard to the experiences of the three stages of development in a man’s life- childhood, youth, and old age. It was Wordsworth’s observation that what we experience as children makes us the people we are when we are older.

Childhood is the most critical and important part of a person’s development. The Jesuits used to believe that the first seven years of a person’s life are his most absorbing years. If the right seeds are sown in these seven years the harvest would be predetermined. By the time a child reaches the age of seven, his character is largely set and he begins to show glimpses of the man he is going to be.

A child is spontaneous and unselfish in sharing his love and it is this that makes the transition to full adulthood achievable. Yet the intermittent chapter of adolescence often sees the tendency of the love to be overshadowed by the swift augmentation of the adolescent intellect, and this imbalance of mind and heart often is the reason for the pains of adolescence. However, the qualities of the adult that eventually surface in us are a large reflection of our earliest, unselfish, outwardly reaching love which is later fortified by our knowledge and experience. The child is the seed from which will grow forth the adult man.

There are other contexts in which this quotation is used. It can also mean that we try to teach our children all that we have learned but somewhere down the line our children teach us things that we have forgotten. They teach us to smile, to laugh, to love, and to forgive; simple spontaneous things that we have forgotten leading our busy lives. Another line of thought is that today’s children will be the fathers of tomorrow’s men. What we inculcate in our children’s minds today will be passed onto future generations. A handful of today’s youngsters will be presidents, inventors, philosophers, scientists and they will rule the world. This lot will make decisions that affect the lives of generations yet to come and they will be called the “fathers of men”.

The flip side of this quotation is that a man’s children are often his Achilles heel. While he may not bow to anyone else, often in the face of persuasion from his children, he will succumb leading one to believe that the child is the father of the man.

Yet another flip side to this quotation is that when a man grows old he begins to behave like a child. He wants to do things that the doctor hasn’t prescribed, he craves attention and often throws up tantrums like an infant making one believe that truly child is the father of the man.

There are some who believe that there is a karmic intonation in this quotation. What we do incur present lives affects our future lives. The child represents our present and the man represents our future lives. So the conclusion is drawn that child is the father of man meaning our present creates our future.

( 530 Words )

Essay No. 04

The child is the Father of Man

The child is the father of man, a statement by the great romantic poet William Wordsworth, has great dimensions of meaning. Childhood is that blissful stage of life where man’s heart is crystal clear of any superficiality and evil intentions. The innocence and simplicity of a child are without any impressions of social influence. They are blissfully ignorant of the difference between good and bad, truth and lie; the differences which are fed to them by society. In this manner, they are more mature and ‘adult than a full-grown man. The adults can learn from children the natural innocence, simplicity, and love for each and everything, they come in contact with. In the present society suffocated with violence, wars, artificiality, and malignant lies, children can be a live source of inspiration and human values. They can teach us to be better human beings to create a better world to live in.

( 160 Words )

Essay No. 05

The child is the father of the man

Childhood indicates the nature of one’s life in the future. Since the character is inborn and permanent, the qualities and behavior of a child decide the personality of the adult it will grow into. Thus, adult life is merely an extension of childhood. If our childhood is happy and secure, our future as adults will be trouble-free and productive. It is the similarity between the manner in which attitudes and talents of childhood are extended to adult life, and that in which physical features and attributes of its parents are inherited by a child, that has inspired this saying.

(100 words)