THE QUALITIES OF GREATNESS

 

THE QUALITIES OF GREATNESS      

            What makes anybody great? Not wealth. Not very high rank. Not lot of property. Not abundant knowledge. Not long rulership. It  is based upon morality, godliness, charity, love, affection, tolerance, mercy, forgiveness, sympathy, empathy, sharing, caring, self-denial, virtuousness, social welfare, humanism, non-violence, peacefulness, belief in equality of people and nations, the instinct for creating an environment of unity among all and sundry.

            Indian emperor Asoka is called great because he abandoned war, adopted measures of social welfare, and became  father to his people.

            The Greek ruler Alexander  is called great because of his military genius and expansion of Greek civilization from one end of the world to another within a very short time.    

            The Mughal emperor Akbar is called great for his attributes of tolerance and socio-political reforms. He won the trust and faith of the non-Muslim population in his kingdom.

            The  German statesman Reich Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)  believed that a really great man is known by three signs ---generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.

            According to the American clergy William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), known as the “Father of Unitarianism” : The greatest man is he who chooses the right with invincible resolution; who resists the sorest temptations from within and without; who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully; who is calmest in storms, and most fearless under menace and frowns; and whose reliance on truth, on virtue, and on God, is most unfaltering.

            It is also true that greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory.

            Lastly, this quote by the American educator and writer James Mason Hoppin (1920-1906): A nation’s greatness resides not in her material resources, but in her will, faith, intelligence, and moral forces.                                                                                                           *****

G.R.Kanwal

8^th March 2026

BEAUTY AND JOY

 

 

                                                          BEAUTY AND JOY

            Beauty is defined as “the quality of being pleasing to the senses or to the mind.” Some of its synonyms are : loveliness, prettiness, handsomeness, charm, grace, glamour, and allurement.  

            It is a general source of joy which means: happiness, pleasure, delight, gladness, rapture, bliss, ecstasy, gratification and enjoyment,

            The English romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) says in his long poem from Endymion Book I :

            A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

            Its loveliness increases; it will never

            Pass into nothingness.

 

            According to a proverb: “Beauty lies in the eyes of the   beholder”, therefore  what is beautiful or admirable for one may not be so for another. In spite of this belief there are some universal components which make something beautiful for most of the people. They are : symmetry, physical structure, inner charm, attractiveness, artistic grace and impressiveness.

           

            The English novelist Jane Porter (1776-1850) said: The beauty of form affects the mind, but then it must not be the mere shell that we admire, but the thought that this shell is only the beautiful case adjusted to the shape and value of a still more beautiful pearl within.  The perfection of outward loveliness is the soul shining through the crystalline covering.

 

            Jane Porter’s point is that a thing of beauty must be attractive  both externally and internally.

            Keats has listed  in his poem many beautiful things which are a source of eternal joy.Some lines of his poem have already been quoted above. Here is the complete poem:

           

                        A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into no``Athingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall

From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon

For simple sheep; and such are daffodils

With the green world they live in; and clear rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make

'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;

All lovely tales that we have heard or read:

An endless fountain of immortal drink,

Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

7^th March 2026

      

IF AND IF AND IF

 

IF AND IF AND IF

1.     If you want to know what life is, read the following lines by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) in his poem “A PSALM OF LIFE “ :

            Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

            Life is but an empty dream !

            Foe the soul is that slumbers ,

            And things are not what they seem.

           

            Life is real ! Life is earnest !

            And the grave is not its goal;

            “Dust thou art, to dust returnest,”

            Was not spoken of the soul,         

And if you want to be counted among the great, read the following lines from the same poem:

            Lives of great men all remind us

            We can make our lives sublime,

            And, departing, leave behind us

            Footprints on the sands of time;-

           

            Footprints, that perhaps another,

            Sailing, o’er life’s solemn main,

            A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

            Seeing, shall take heart again.

2.     If you want to be called brave and collect lots of dreadful weapons, don’t become arrogant. Death is a great leveller. In a 17^th century funeral song the English poet and playwright James Shirley (1596-1666) says that death is the ultimate equalizer, making no distinction between the powerful and the weak.  Read the lines that follow:

            The glories of our blood and state

            Are shadows, not substantial things,

            There is no armour against Fate;

            Death lays his icy hand on kings.

            Sceptre and Crown

            Must tumble down,

            And in the dust be equal made

            With the poor crooked scythe and spade.     

3.     Finally, if you want to read the words a repentant powerful king who was extremely proud of his massive power, read OZYMANDIAS,  a sonnet written by the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822). This sonnet talks about the discovery of a semi-destroyed and decaying statue of Ramessses II, (third pharaoh of the 19^th dynasty of Egypt)  also known as Ozymandias, and shows how power deteriorates and does not last for ever. On the pedestal of the said statue, the words that appear are:

            “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.

            Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Shelley adds: Nothing beside remains round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

6^th March 2026

 

A SINNER’S FATE

 

                          A SINNER’S FATE    

          A sinner’ fate is never sealed. He can reform himself whenever he firmly decides to do so. The proverb :“It is never too late to mend” is not untrue. There is another saying which means : “Better late than never.”

            The history of the world shows that many sinners became saints. One of them was  popularly known  Daku Angulimala  because he was a merciless  killer. The meaning of his name was “finger necklace “. According to the history of  Buddhism the story of Angulimala holds quite a significant place  because it tells us how a ruthless murderer became a saint when he met Lord Buddha and was accepted in the monastic order of Sangha.

                 If saints had a past, sinners have a future. It depends upon a sinner to realize his folly of sinning and determine to adopt the path of virtuousness. The house of God is never shut. It is always open for forgiveness. It is also a fact that a sinner who decides to become a saint changes his decision and  once again resolves to lead a sinner’s life. His decision for self-reformation was not firm.

                  The Persian Sufi mystic and poet Jalal al-din Muhammad  Rumi, briefly known as Rumi (1207-1273) says in one of his poems :

            Come, come, whoever you are;

            Wanderer, worshipper, lover of learning…

            It does not matter.

            Ours is not a caravan of despair.

            Come, even if you have broken your vow

            a thousand times.

            Come, come, yet  again come.

This is the large-heartedness of God whose naughty children we are. We break our promise of self-improvement a thousand times, He does not mind it and allows us to make a fresh promise of self-reformation and abide by it. The doors of merciful God are always open for our entry.  

                                                            *******

G.R. Kanwal

5^th March 2026.

QUOTES AGAINST WAR AND PEACE

 

                QUOTES AGAINST WAR AND PEACE

1.     PRO-WAR.  Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it’s spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children than war is destroyer of men. ----English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) in his play Coriolanus, Act 4, Sc.5.

2.     PRO-PEACE.  Blessed are the peacemakers on earth! ---William Shakespeare in his  play Henry VI (2^nd part), Act 2, Sc.1

3.     PRO-PEACE. In her days every man shall eat in safety

Under his own vine what he plants, and sing

The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours.          ---William Shakespeare in Henry VIII, Act 5, Sc. 5.

                                                -----

4.     ANTI-WAR. There never was a a good war, or a bad peace.---Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Founding Father of the United States.

5.     ANTI-WAR. I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but world War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.---Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1966).

6.     ANT-WAR.  War is not a necessary feature of human life.---Lou Marinoff, Candian academic and author (Born October 18, 1951).

7.     ANT-WAR. Only the dead have seen the end of war.---Spanish philosopher and essayist George Santayana (1863-1952).

8.     ANTI-WAR. In war,  the first casualty is truth. American General George S. Patton (1885-1945).

9.     PRO-WAR. Hindu sacred book Bhagvad Gita justifies war for protection of righteousness but it should be without personal desire, fear, or attachment to results. Further, a person of warrior caste must fight a righteous war even against his kith and kin. In this case,  the warrior is Arjuna wo is assured  by Lord Krishna that death is an illusion, only the body perishes but the soul therein continues to survive in another form.

                             

Finally, this quote by the American Confederate General Robert Edward Lee: It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.

                                                      *******

G. R. Kanwal

4^th March 2026

TALKING ABOUT WAR AND PEACE

 

              TALKING ABOUT WAR AND PEACE            

*War is death and destruction; peace is life and construction.

*War is full of curses; peace is full of blessings.

*War is the mother of adversity; peace is the matriarch  of prosperity.

*War is a group of killer diseases; peace is an assemble of rejuvenating health.

*War is fire and smoke; peace is water and cool breeze.

*War is darkness; peace is light.

*War is barbarism; peace is enlightenment,

*War produces scarcity; peace engenders abundance.

*War is loss of sleep; peace is gain of restorative sleep.

*War needs to be stopped at the earliest, peace should be maintained eternally.

            Now look at the following  famous quotes

**War is a profession by which a man cannot live honourably.

**War is a system out of which almost all the virtues are excluded, and in which nearly all the vices are included.

***Peace is the happy, natural state of man; war, his corruption, his disgrace.

*** We love peace, but not peace at any price.

***Peace hath her victories , no less renowned than war.

*** Speak, move, act in peace, as if you were in prayer.

***Peace is rarely denied to the peaceful.

***There are five great enemies of peace : greed , ambition, envy, anger, and pride.

***Nothing can bring peace but the triumph of principles.

Finally: *** Peace is dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful birth.—English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

                                                *********

G. R. Kanwal

3^rd March 2026

SOME FAMOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT WAR

 

SOME FAMOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT WAR         

            If war is not illegal, it is certainly immoral. It is a killer, a destroyer, a crippler, a maker of widows and orphans,  a turner of fertile land into a desert.  

            It is inherently evil, responsible for widespread destruction and mass slaughter of innocent men, women and children.

            It is the enemy of nature and its multiple fertility.  It creates hatred and thoughts revenge and retaliation. It also ruins a number of noble values.

            The English writer Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) said: War! That mad game the world so loves to play.

            And this is  what James Kirkup (1918-2009)-a poet and professor  of English literature associated with many universities says in his poem -- “No Men Are Foreign”:

                        REMEMBER, no men are strange, no countries foreign,

                        Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes

                        Like ours; the land our brothers walk upon

                        Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.  

                        They, too, aware of sun and air and water,

                        Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starv’d.

                        Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read

                        A labour not different from our own.

                       

            Here are a couple of very  famous thoughts:

*War is the business of barbarians. ---Former Emperor of the French Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).

 

*War is nothing less than a temporary repeal of the principles of virtue. It is a system out of which almost all the virtues are excluded and in which nearly all the vices are included.----English clergy  Robert Hall (1764-1831)

 

            Finally, this is what Lord Jesus Christ said : Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

2^nd March 2026