REMEMBER SOME PROVERBS

 

REMEMBER SOME PROVERBS

            Proverbs are stated to be (i) the wisdom of many and the wit of one. (ii) The literature of reason, or the statements of absolute truth. (iii) The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation. (iv). Short sentences drawn from long experiences. (v). The condensed wisdom of long experience. (vi). The abridgement of wisdom. (Vii). The meaning and power of a thousand words into one short and simple sentence. (viii).Usually but half truth. (ix). Attractive due to sense, brevity, and point. (x). Simple words, short maxims, homely truths, cream of a nation’s thought.

            Here are some examples:

1.     A man is known by the company he keeps.

2.     All is well that ends well,

3.     A blind man is no judge of colours.

4.     Two of a trade seldom agree.

5.     Better lose a jest than lose a friend.

6.     A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

7.     It’s no use crying over spilt milk.

8.     Ever cock fights best on his own dunghill.

9.     Self-praise is no commendation.

10.                         It takes two to make a quarrel.

11.                         Better alone than in bad company.

12.                         Idleness is the root of all evil.

13.                         Empty vessels make much noise.

14.                         There is no rose without a thorn.

15.                         A lie has no legs to stand upon.

16.                         A drowning man catches at a straw.

17.                         Truth fears no examination.

18.                         Birds of a feather flock together.

19.                         Love begets love.

20.                         Money makes the mare go.

                                                *******

G. R. Kanwal

3  October 2026

           

 

                 

THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD’S ADVICE TO HIS SON

 

          THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD’S ADVICE TO HIS SON

            It was Philip Stanhope (1694-1773), the 4^th Earl of Chesterfield, who was a prominent British statesman, diplomat, and an author with genuine poetic gifts. He is best remembered for Letters to His Son published posthumously in 1774. Through the suggestions given in his letters, he wished to make his son “Man of the World” and a “Gentleman. A good number of letters written to him  on etiquette, statecraft, and personal refinement begin with  the words “Dear Boy”.

            Given below are a few quotes from one of his representative letters.

1.     Errors and mistakes, however gross, in matters of opinion, if they are sincere, are to be pitied, but not punished nor laughed at.

2.     The blindness of the understanding is as much to be pitied as the blindness of the eye; and there is neither jest nor guilt in a man’s losing his way in either case. Charity bids us set him right if we can, by arguments and persuasions; but charity, at the same time, forbids, either to punish or ridicule his misfortune.

3.     Every man’s reason is, and must be, his guide.

4.     Every man seeks for truth; but God only knows who has found it.  

5.     It is the man who tells, or who acts a lie, that is guilty, and not he who honestly and sincerely believes the lie. I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying.

6.       Lies are always detected sooner or later.

7.     Remember as long as you live that nothing but strict truth can carry you through the world, with either your conscience or your honour unwounded.  

8.     The pleasures of the mind, which are the solid and permanent ones, do not come under the head of what people commonly call pleasures; which they seem to confine to the senses. The pleasures of virtue, and of learning is true and lasting pleasure.

9.     Tell me who you live with and I will tell you who you are.

10.         The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess; but a very difficult one to acquire.

                                                                *****

G. R Kanwal

 30 September 2026

 

 

 

 

MAHATMA GANDHI

 

                MAHATMA GANDHI

           

            Today is the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was born at Porbander in Kathiawar (India) on October 2, 1869, in a Vaishya family. “Both his father and grandfather, though not very highly educated, rose to become the Chief Ministers of small States in Ksthiawar.

 

            M.K.Gandhi who is now also known as Mahatma Gandhi passed his matriculation exam in India at the age of eighteen; went to England where he studied for three years and was called to the Bar. On return, he practiced for two years in Bombay and Rajkot but without any significant success.

 

            His eventful life as a barrister began in South Africa. There he stayed for 20 years, fought for the rights of aggrieved  Indians; became a non-violent leader for justice and freedom;  then came back to India and fought with  the then  British rulers non-violently; as a result of which he along with other like-minded Indian leaders  won independence for his country on 15 August 1947.

            Unfortunately, a fanatic shot him dead 0n 30^th January 1948. By this time, he had become popular as Mahatma Gandhi not only in his own country  but in the whole world.     

 

                Here are some of his famous quotes:

 

*You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

 

*You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

 

*We may not be God, but we are of God, even as a little drop of water is of the ocean.

 

*As soon as we become one with the ocean in the shape of God, there is no more rest for us, nor indeed do we need rest any longer,

 

*An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

 

*The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

 

*The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.                                                                                          

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

2^nd October 2026                                      

To Blossoms

 

 

                                              To Blossoms

 

            ‘To Blossoms’ is a very beautiful and one of the best-loved poems by the Cavalier poet Robert Herrick (1591-1674), who was a perfect lyricist though his greatness was acknowledged after a long waiting.

 

            A criic says Herrick’s poems achieved no great contemporary fame, and he had to wait till the end of the eighteenth century before he took his rightful place in the greatest English lyric poets. From that place there has been none to depose him.    

 

            Given below is his deeply meaningful poem To Blossoms. It is about the fleeting beauty of blossoms which are “born to be an hour or half’s delight’. It is sad, says the poet, all beautiful things also have quick end. They merely show their worth and quit this world.

 

             Their brief life  reveals to us  the universal truth and that is: “How soon things have their end. After they have shown their pride awhile, they glide into the grave.”

               

            The full text of the poem bearing the title “TO BLOSSOMS” follows.    

 

“Fair pledges of a fruitful tree,

Why do ye fall so fast?

Your date is not so past,

But you may stay yet here a-while,

To blush and gently smile;

And go at last.

 

What, were ye born to be

An hour or half's delight;

And so to bid good-night?

'Twas pity Nature brought ye forth,

Merely to show your worth,

And lose you quite.

 

But you are lovely leaves, where we

May read how soon things have

Their end, though ne'er so brave:

And after they have shown their pride,

Like you, a-while;—they glide

Into the grave. “

 

                                                            ********

 

G.R.Kanwal

1^st October 2026

A CONFESSION BY LEO TOLSYOY

 

A CONFESSION BY LEO TOLSYOY

            Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer. He was born on 9 September 1828 and died on 20 November 1910. He is known as one of the greatest and most influential writers of the world.

            His abundantly popular novels are War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). There is also a deeply spiritual memoir called A Confession (1882)  dealing with the existential crisis of his midlife.

            There are a few more well-known books written by him. They are: The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), What Is Art (1897), Childhood, Boyhood, Youth (1852-1856) and The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886).

            According to literary judges Leo Tolstoy’s philosophy centres on “Chritian pacifism, non-resistance to evil, and a radical rejection of state and church authority.”

            It is also important to note that Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi shared “a brief but powerful correspondence between 1909 and 1910 that helped shape the philosophy of nonviolent resistance.” Inspired by the philosophy of Leo Tolstoy Gandhiji christened his communal settlement for non-violent resisters in South Africa as Tolstoy Farm in 1910.

            Here is a brief extract from Tolstoy’s book A Confession:

            The religious doctrine taught me from childhood disappeared in me as in others, but with this difference, that as from the age of fifteen I began to read philosophical works, my rejection of the doctrine became a conscious one at a very early age. From the time I was sixteen I ceased to say my prayers and ceased to go to church or to fast of my own volition. I did not believe what had been taught me in childhood but I believed in something. What it was I believed in I could not at all have said. I believed in a God, or rather I did not deny God ---but I could not have said what sort of God. Neither did I deny Christ and his teaching, but what his teaching consisted in I again could not have said………

            Ambition, love of power, covetousness, lasciviousness, pride, anger, and revenge ---were all respected. “

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

28 September 2026

 

 

           

TWENTY MEMORABLE QUOTES

 

                TWENTY MEMORABLE QUOTES

            Memorable quotes are replete with wisdom.  They are the essence of unparallel experiences of life. Without their knowledge we are almost illiterate.

1.     Tears wash away your sins.

2.     Poverty is not a curse; it is a blessing that preserves our humility.

3.     Pay more attention to your soul, than  to your body.

4.     Every adjective has numerous interpretations.

5.     Action is better than idle thoughts.

6.     Don’t abuse anybody; even your enemy.

7.     Love of dust is better than love of gold.

8.     Beauty is not a physical characteristic; it is  mental and spiritual.

9.     Life is a pilgrimage, not a commercial activity.

10.                         Preserve your childhood innocence till the last moment of your survival.

11.                         It is not easy to tell a lie, if your conscience is not unclean.

12.                         Chances are created; they are not already existing according to your aims.  

13.                         Jealousy is the enemy of one’s mind and soul.

14.                         Greed is a forbidden fruit.

15.                         Poetry is the language of a sensitive heart.  

16.                         Love wins hearts; hatred loses them.

17.                         Look at the sky for natural light of the sun, the moon, and the stars.

18.                         Turn foes into friends in order to be proud of your intelligence.

19.                          Contentment is the best source of happiness.

20.                         The English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) said in his play : As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 1): “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

27 September 2026

 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BUDDHA

 

                THE PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BUDDHA

            Lord  Buddha was originally the son of an Indian Kshatriya king named Suddhodana. His own name was Siddhartha Gautama. He was born in 623 B.C. in the well-known gardens of Lumbini, situated between India and Nepal.

            He passed away in 480 BCE at the age of 80 when he had become a wandering ascetic at the age of 35 years after abandoning the princely life and practicing rigorous penance of observing fasts and inflicting pain on his body for about six years.

            This approach however did not enlighten him. He did not achieve the light by which human beings could overcome the pangs of suffering related to sickness, old age and death. He, therefore,  gave up fasting, started meditating deeply under a papal tree near Gaya and finally the day came when he suddenly attained the knowledge which made him the Buddha, the  Enlightened one.    

            After becoming the Buddha, he began to teach his philosophy of the four noble truths and the eight-fold path. The former were explained  as:

            Life is full of suffering; the cause of suffering is selfishness and desires; suffering ends when desires vanish; and desires can be made to vanish  by adopting  the eight-fold path consisting of :

1.     Right Faith.

2.     Right Resolve.

3.     Right Speech.

4.     Right Conduct.

5.     Right Living.

6.     Right Effort.

7.     Right Remembrance.

8.     Right Meditation.

Lord Buddha also preached the middle path void of extremism. It means : one should avoid over-indulgence and over-abstention. If over-eating is punitive, over-fasting, too, has the same consequence.  

According to him, it is the middle path which  leads to enlightenment and happiness.

Besides the above-mentioned ways he also laid emphasis on self-control. For example, anger should not be allowed to  remain anger; it should be converted into kindness.

The philosophy of Lord Buddha is called Buddhism which is even today practiced in a number of countries all over the world.

The first emperor to adopt Buddhism was Ashoka the Great(Died 232 BC).

Even the parents and other members of  the family of Siddhartha Gautama , now known as Gautama Buddha, adopted Buddhism.

                                          ********

G.R.Kanwal

26 September 2026