KNOW THYSELF
Greek philosophers were unanimous in the demand: Know thyself.
However, this is not possible as soon as you become an adolescent. You are a
joint product of heredity and environment. You inherit a lot from your parents
and also from your environment. Education or any sort of training makes you
what you ultimately become. There are rare persons who are born as what they do
as adults. Born poets, born leaders, born scientists, born businessmen, born
fighters, etc. are few and far between.
Everybody is not born with a readymade destiny. Nearly all of
us are the architects of our fate and for that it is necessary to know what our
predominant abilities are.
French philosopher Chateau de Montaigne (1533- 1592) said: I study myself more than
any other subject; it is my metaphysics, and my physic.
According to the German poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe (1749-1832) “How shall we
learn to know ourselves? By reflection? Never; but only through action. Strive
to do thy duty; then shalt thou know what is in thee.
It is also the duty of the state to educate men and women
according to its social needs. A state needs all sorts of workers and
professional to fulfil its needs. Whereas we need manufacturers of medicines, we
also need doctors to recommend their consumption.
A UNESCO report says educational systems must be changed off
and on to meet the latest requirements of the ever-changing world.
There
is another eternal saying: “Never lose
sight of this important truth, that no one can be truly great until he has gained
a knowledge of himself, a knowledge which can only be acquired by occasional
retirement. “
Finally, this quote by the Chinese philosopher and writer Lao tzu ( 571 BC---?) “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing
yourself is wisdom.”
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G.R.Kanwal
5th
October 2024
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