LIFE WITHOUT WORK

 

LIFE WITHOUT WORK 

Life without work is a curse. It means no activity involving mental or physical effort to spend one’s time usefully.

Work is occupation, employment, profession, service, job, duty and livelihood, etc.

The Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) said: A man is a worker. If he is not that he is nothing.

The American industrialist and business magnate Henry Ford  (1863-1947) believed that he who would really benefit mankind must reach them through their work.

There is no doubt  that those who do not do some sort of profitable work become parasites. They have to beg for alms for the necessaries of their day–to-day life.

   God has made every person capable of doing some work. There are thousands of fields in which people can engage themselves and spend their time profitably.

     To use one’s talents productively, one has to select a suitable field of work. No work is mean or undignified.

      There is a famous proverb which says ‘work is worship’. It means all work is significant and deserves to be treated with respect and devotion.

The American politician, academic, and jurist Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) said: I believe in hard work and long hours of work. Men do not break down from overwork, but from worry and dissipation.

Hard work with time to spare for rest and relaxation provides sound sleep. Finish your day’s work, get tired and go to bed with words of gratitude to God.

According to the 30^th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) : All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. Work is not a curse; it is a prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization.

Finally, this short sentence: There is no substitute for hard work.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

28 Feb 2025              

 

 

LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

 

          

LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

‘Lead Kindly Light’ is a famous hymn, written by John Henry Newman.

He was born in London on 21 Feb 1801 and died of pneumonia at the county house of oratory in Birmingham (UK) on 11 August 1890 .

To begin with, he was an Anglican priest but after his conversion became a cardinal.

Though a controversial figure in the religious history of England, Newman became a national figure by the mid 1840s . It was in 2019 that he was canonized as a Catholic saint.

In addition to “Lead Kindly Light”, Newman is also famous for “The Fragrance Prayer” in which he says : Dear Jesus, Help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours.  

The hymn “Lead Kindly Light” which is reproduced below expresses the serene faith that Newman found in religion.

In fact, to live in this gloomy world, without facing obstacles and falling into various pitfalls, man needs God’s kindly light.

Here is the text of the hymn:

“Lead kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead thou me on:

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead thou me on.

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou

Should’st lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path, but now

Lead thou me on.

I loved the garish day; and spite of fears,

Pride ruled my will; remember not past years.

So long thy power has blessed me, sure it still

Will lead me on.

O’er moor and fen, O’er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone,

And with the morn those angel faces smile,

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

                             *********

G.R.Kanwal

27 Feb 2025

 

 

WHAT IS INFLUENCE?

 

WHAT IS INFLUENCE?

Influence is effect, impact, control, power, sway, rule, guidance, domination, direction, persuasion, etc.  

If you try to influence somebody, you intend to induce, impel, incite or prompt him.

The word ‘influence’ also signifies the capacity to have an effect on the character, development and behaviour of someone or something.

To influence is to move, impel, control, or direct a person or to gain an impact on his actions.

Nobody is free from various influences in his upbringing, character formation,  social etiquette, style of working,  decision-making and way of thinking. .

Teachers, leaders, friends, relatives, all influence our thoughts and actions. So do books like the Gita, the Ramayana, the holy Quran, the Bible and  various  journals, newspapers and electronic media.  We are also influenced by the world history, religions, ethical beliefs and cultural values. Moreover, there are  various past heritages which make us what we are.

If you want to be an effective influential person, you must be possessing great qualities of head, heart and soul. To influence is to persuade, and this requires a huge motivational and inspirational power.

Always be a noble influencer; to be ignoble is to be devilish and destructive.

Somebody has rightly said : Influence is the exhalation of character.

According to the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) : He who wishes to exert a useful influence must be careful to insult nothing. Let him not be troubled by what seems absurd, but consecrate his energies to the creation of what is good. He must not demolish, but build. He must raise temples where mankind may come and partake of the purest pleasures.

The Greek philosopher Socrates (died 15 Feb 399 BC) advised: Let him that would move the world, first move himself.

Finally, read te words of the British author and government reformer Samuel Smiles (1812-1904):  The career of a great man remains an enduring monument of human energy. The man dies and disappears, but his thoughts and acts survive and have an indelible stamp upon his race.

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

26 February 2025

 

           

 

 

ALEXANDER POPE’S EPIGRAMS

 

ALEXANDER POPE’S EPIGRAMS

The English poet and satirist Alexander Pope was born in London on 21 May 1688 and died at Twickenham, near London,  on 30 May 30 1744.

He was physically very weak, but mentally very strong.

In his youth he read a lot. His selection included classical writers - Homer, Tasso, Aristoto, Virgil and Ovid either in the original or in translation.

In the modern writers, he read their poetry, criticism and drama.

   His health was always bad. By middle life, his physical weakness was so constant that he could not dress without aid.  

According to the English writer Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), his legs were so slender that he enlarged their bulk with three pairs of stockings, which were drawn on and off by the maid.

Some of the famous literary works of Pope are: The Rape of the Lock (1712, 1714), Essay on Man (1733), An Essay on Criticism (1711), The Iliad of Homer translated (1715-1720) and The Odyssey of Homer translated (1725-1726).

Pope is universally famous for his epigrams (Short sayings said in a clever and amusing way). Some critics have rightly said that no authors except Shakespeare and Milton have given to the English language so many quotable lines and phrases as Pope.

Pope’s neat couplets are said to be easy to remember, and his comments on life and learning are usually brief, clever, and exact.

To conclude , here are some famous epigrams of Pope:

1.     Hope springs eternal in the human heart;

      Man never is but always to be blest. (From Essay on Man).

 

2.     All nature is but art, unknown to thee;

All, chance, direction, which thou cans not see;

All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good;

And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,

One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right. .

3.     Honor and shame from no condition rise;

Act well your part, there all the honor lies.

 

4.     A wit’s a feather, and a chief a rod;

An honest man is the noblest work of God.

 

5.      A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow drafts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again.

(Piera was the region where the Muses (In Greek mythology nine goddesses who presided over the arts and science}.  were first worshipped).

6.     True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,

As those move easiest who have learned to dance.

      7. To err is human, to forgive divine.   

      8. For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

      9. For forms of Government let fools contest,

            Whate’er s best administered is best.

     10.’Tis Education forms the common mind:

            Just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.

            Be not the first by whom the new are tried,

            Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

                                    *********

G. R. Kanwal

25 May 2025        

           

 

 

             

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

 

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

An enemy is defined as a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something hostile and deadly. Some common synonyms of this word are: foe, opponent, rival, adversary, antagonist and combatant.

The answer given to the question : How are enemies made? is as follows:

“ Enemies are often created through a combination of factors like misunderstanding, disagreements, hurtful action, competition for resources, group identification, political or ideological differences, personal jealousy, and sometimes even the perception of an “other” which can be fuelled by propaganda or societal divisions; essentially, when individuals or groups perceive a threat or conflicting interests from one another. “

The way to be free from enemies lies in the policy of co-existence, of living and letting live. Don’t try to prove yourself  holier, abler,  wiser, superior and luckier.   

Greed is one of the major causes of enmity. Ever country wants to grab  as much territory as possible,  by hook or by crook. For this there are wars.  

The desire to become more prosperous than other countries is another cause for enmity. Unfortunately, nature has not distributed its various resources equally among all the nations. Had it been so, there would have been the least possible enmity.

As for enmity between two persons, the remedy lies in giving up hatred and defamation . Love changes  enemies into friends .Your enemy may  be a sincere critic who observes your weaknesses and draws your attention to remove them. To fight with your enemy is the worst remedy.

Love conquers enmity; hatred expands it.

The Greek playwright Aristophanes (Born 445 BC) said: Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from hem their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war; and their lesson saves their children, their homes, and their properties.

 Another Greek essayist and philosopher Plutarch  (46-120) gives this piece of advice: “Let us carefully observe those good qualities wherein our enemies excel us, and endeavour to excel them by avoiding what is faulty, and imitating what is excellent in them.”

To conclude, the words of  the English historian and poet Aleyn (1590-1640)  “The fine and noble way to destroy a foe, is not to kill him; with kindness you may so change him that he shall cease to be so” .

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

24 February 2025       

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHEERFULNESS

 

CHEERFULNESS 

Cheerfulness is a quality of the heart, the mind and the soul. The body, too, plays its role in breeding it.  A sick body cannot exhibit cheerfulness. You need a healthy, active, strong body to be cheerful. The body is your life. Take care of it so that it keeps you fit for your delightful duties in life.

Cheerfulness also depends upon your temperament.  If you are short-tempered and quick to lose your emotional balance, you cannot be cheerful.

It will be wrong to say that those people who are wealthy and prosperous are always cheerful.  In fact, they may be more cheerless than those who are poor but contented.  

A healthy body, a sound mind and a pure soul are the chief basis of cheerfulness.

Don’t think of breaking the laws of nature and don’t  commit any crime or sin to remain carefree and cheerful.

You have been born in a beautiful world. Your stay here is for a brief destined period. Your aim should be to make this world more beautiful than you find it. You can do it only if you are healthy, dutiful, dynamic, pious  and devoted.

The  golden rule to maintain cheerfulness is: Trust in God and do what is right.

Remember that cheerfulness is health; its opposite melancholy, is disease.

The English essayist, poet and playwright Joseph Addison (1672-1719) said : A cheerful temper joined with innocence will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good-natured. It will lighten sickness, poverty, and affliction; convert ignorance into an amiable simplicity, and render deformity itself agreeable.

And according to the Scottish essayist and philosopher Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) : Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of endurance – the cheerful man will do more in the same time, will do it better, will preserve in it longer, than the sad or sullen.

To conclude this short message :  Cheerfulness is not by chance, but by choice.

                                                ********

G. R. Kanwal

23 February 2025                           

 

EXTRAVAGANCE

 

                                            EXTRAVAGANCE

‘Extravagance’ is totally unnecessary. It is wastefulness, lavishness, profligacy, recklessness, excess, immoderation, lack of restraint, over display of wealth and resources, unnecessary exhibitionism, and excessive expenditure of assets.

A number of religions, moral systems, social philosophies and principles  of simplicity condemn extravagance.

In a country where innumerable citizens have to beg for food, sleep in the open, remain under-dressed and borrow money for various essential  ceremonious functions, extravagance is a vice, a sort of sin and immoral act.

Extravagance is an avoidable wastage of money and means. It is a violation of simplicity and humility and display of material arrogance. It is also an impious activity, hurtful to the under-privileged. It may be approved by aristocracy, but not by democracy.

Here are some of the valuable thoughts on extravagance.

1.     He that is extravagant will soon become poor, and poverty will enforce dependence, and invite corruption. ---English author Samuel Johnson (1709-84).

2.     The passion of acquiring riches in order to support a vain expense, corrupts the purest souls. ----French Archbishop Francis de S. Fenelon (1651-1715).

3.     Prodigality is the vice of a weak nature, as avarice is of a strong one. It comes of a weak craving for those blandishments of the world which are easily had for money.---English poet, dramatist and political scientist  Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886).

4.     Laws cannot prevent extravagance; and this perhaps is not always an evil to the public. A shilling spent idly by a fool may be picked up by a wiser person, who knows better what to do with it; it is, therefore, not lost. ---American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-90).

5.     Riches are for spending, and spending for honour and good actions; therefore extraordinary expense must be limited by the worth of the occasion. ---English author and philosopher  Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Finally, it is better to be frugal than to be extravagant because a penny saved is a penny earned.

*********

G.R.Kanwal

20^th February 2024

 

 

 

 

 

HOLINESS

 

          HOLINESS 

The word ‘holy’ is defined as sacred, pious, spiritually perfect, untainted by evil, sinless, sanctified, venerated, religious , devout, heavenly, divine, godly, godlike, angelic and blessed.

To categorize things as holy or unholy is difficult. There can be no consensus among the people who categorize a particular thing as holy or unholy.

There is another question : Has God made the same things as holy at one place and  unholy and at  another place?

Why are some rivers, hills, shrines, etc., considered holier than others?

I sometimes think that whatever God has made or created is holy. The sun, the moon, all the stars, every river, every hill, the whole earth, forests, the natural objects, animals and birds, fruits and vegetable, the plants and herbs all are holy. Likewise, every moment of time is holy. No moment is independent of the full stream of time.

Rain is holy everywhere and in every season. The autumn is as holy as the spring.

There is a diversity of things but all of them are sacred by themselves. It is people, their users, who misuse them and affect their holiness.

People are born holy. They become unholy by their evil deeds.

The English divine Philip  Henry  (1631-96) said “Holiness is the symmetry of the soul.”

According to F.D. Huntington, the American clergy (1819-1904) : Holiness is religious principle put into action. It is faith gone to work. It is love coined into conduct; devotion helping human suffering, and going up in   intercession to the great source of all good.

German humorist Jean Paul Richter (1763-1826) had this to say: Everything holy is before what is unholy ; guilt presupposes innocence, not the reverse. Angels, but not fallen ones, were created.  Man does not properly rise to the highest, but first sinks down from it, and then afterward rises again.

The fact is that holiness is a creation by God, un-holiness, by human beings.

Finally, here is a bit long quote: Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man. No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than His holiness. The world calls for, and expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility, detachment, and self-sacrifice.     

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

19 February 2025       

 

SHAKESPEARE ON LIFE

 

SHAKESPEARE ON LIFE

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was not a philosopher. He was a poet-playwright. He changed his views about topics like life, love, death, world, God, happiness, grief, gratitude, ingratitude, etcetera according to the situation before him. He contradicted himself without hesitation. This is also true about many other great poets.

The American poet and essayist Walt Whitman (1819=1892) asked : Do I contradict myself? And answered, yes I do? I am great.

Given below are a few quotations on ‘Life’ by William Shakespeare. They present no consistent philosophy; yet each view expressed by him is weighty and laudable.

1.     The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together: Our virtues would be proud if faults whipped them not; and our crimes would despair if they were not cherished by our virtues. ---All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 4.

2.     .  . . . Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. ---Macbeth, Act 5.

3.     Life is a shuttle.---Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 5.

4.     It is stillness to live when to live is a torment. ---Othello, Act 1.

5.     We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with sleep.----Tempest, Act 4.

6.     There’s nothing in this world can make me joy: Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man; and bitter shame hath spoil’d the sweet world’s taste, that it yields nought but shme and bitterness. ---King John, Act 3.

G.R.Kanwal

18^th February 2025

 

WHAT IS LIFE?

 

          WHAT IS LIFE? 

Life is a mystery; so is death. The world, too, is a riddle, a conundrum, a puzzle.

Even the purpose of life is a problem, an enigma, a brain-teaser.

The span of life is not the same for all humans and other living beings.  

In spite of all these issues, life is both a dream and reality which is going to be there for aeons to come.

A lot of thinkers have expressed their thoughts about the nature of life. They are not only interesting but also illuminating.

Given below is a small selection of thoughts expressed by great thinkers from various fields of life. The names of these thinkers have been mentioned but not their particulars for want of space.

1.Every man’s life is a plan of God. – Horace Bushnell.

2.Every man’s life is a fairy tale, written by God’s fingers.---Hans Christian Andersen.

3. A little work, a little sleep, a little love and it is all over.---Mary Roberts Rinehart.

4. Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, stains the white radiance of eternity. ---P.B.Shelley.

5. The book of life begins with a man and woman in a garden. It ends with Revelations. ---Oscar Wilde

6. Life is a long lesson in humility.---James M.Barrie.

7. We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.---Voltaire.

8. Life is a series of surprises. We do not guess today the mood, the pleasure, the power of tomorrow, when we are building up our being. -----Ralph Waldo Emerson.

9. He lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not lived, but lost. God is better than his promise if he takes from him a long lease, and gives him a freehold of a better value. ----Margaret Fuller.

10. Life is the childhood of our immortality.---Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

11. Life does not count by years. Some suffer a lifetime in a day, and so grow old between the rising and the setting of the sun. --- Augusta Evans.

12. There are two lives to each of us, the life of our actions, and the life of our minds and hearts. ---History reveals men’s deeds and their outward characters, but not themselves. There is a secret self that has its own life, un-penetrated and un-guessed,--- Edward George Bulwer-Lytton.

            To conclude, here is a short quote: Life is a dream ---realize it.

                                                *********

G.R.Kanwal

17th February 2025       

 

         

 

SAY NO TO TEMPTATIONS

 

SAY NO TO TEMPTATIONS  

Temptations are traps. They are alluring, attractive, fascinating, enticing, fascinating and tantalizing but their effects are harmful and vicious.

Those who cannot resist temptations have to face undesirable results. Adam and Eve were tempted by the forbidden fruit in heaven and had to fall from there and come into this world.

Things which tempt us are unhealthy. Wine, cigarettes, spicy food, sensual activities, unethical pleasures, stealing, greed, gluttony, extra-marital relations, cheating, use of unfair means for fair ends, indulging in immoral practices and so many other physical, mental and  spiritual temptations have hellish consequences.

Temptations are illegitimate desires. Their fulfillment is painful. The pleasures or joys which they give us are ephemeral. A rat tempted by the food in the rat-trap becomes a prisoner. He loses his free movement and perhaps feels remorse for his getting tempted.

The English divine Samuel Clarke (1675-1729) said: Bearing up against temptations and prevailing over them is the very thing wherein the whole life of religion consists. It is the trial which God puts upon us in this world, by which we are to make evidence of our love and obedience to Him, and of our fitness to be made members of His kingdom.

And according to the American educationist Horace Mann (1796 --1859): Temptation is a fearful word. It indicates the beginning of a possible series of infinite evils. It is the ringing of an alarm bell, whose melancholy sounds may reverberate through eternity. Like the sudden sharp cry of “Fire!” under our windows by night, it should rouse us to instantaneous action, and rouse every muscle to its highest tension.

  The best way to escape the evil consequences of temptations is to say ‘no” to them. To resist temptations is to preserve the holiness of your body, mind and soul.

To conclude, here is a quote which says: “Common temptations include eating too much, spending too much, laziness, venting on social media, gossiping, feeling jealous, viewing pornography, lying or cheating and abusing alcohol.”

                                                **********

G.R.Kanwal

16 February 2025  

 

WHAT IS LOVE?

 

          WHAT IS LOVE?

Love is a quality of the heart. To be alive is to be in love not only with a man or woman but the whole world.

We must love our country, our home, our friends and relative, our body, mind and soul.

Nothing is unlovable in this world. The whole universe is worthy of love. All nations, all religions, all planets deserve love. One must love, the sky, the sun, the moon the stars, mountains, rivers and gardens with their trees, flowers and thorns.

Birds and beasts all look for loving eyes and affectionate hands.

God deserves maximum love for His infinite life-friendly blessings and well-deserved mercies.

Love is life. A person who does not get  love is almost lifeless. He is alone and cut off from all the joys, beauties and charms of the world.

Love is health and happiness; its antonym hatred is sickness and distress.

Love demands sacrifice not for some time but for the whole of one’s life.

Love is not a duty, it is a spiritual offering. It asks for no material rewards.  It is a selfless phenomenon.

To be untrue and unfaithful in love is poisonous. Truthful and loyal love is elixir.

A person who loves his enemies, rivals, opponents, competitors and antagonists is the best practitioner of love.

If love changes into hatred; hatred, too, changes into love. In this respect, time is a great changer.

True love is  free from jealousies. It is extremely broad-minded. It is non-possessive. It believes in the freedom of the loved ones.

To conclude, here is a sonnet by the English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

. . . . . . . Love is not Love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove;

O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests and is never shaken.

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth is unknown, although his height be taken.

 

Love is not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

 

If this be error and upon me prov’d,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

  

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

15 February 2025

  

           

GOOD AND BAD HABITS

 

GOOD AND BAD HABITS 

A habit is defined as something one does often and almost without thinking.  Once formed a habit is hard to break.  

There are good and bad habits. Good habits keep you healthy and happy; safe and loveable; successful and comfortable; they maintain your good reputation and win you more and more friends and admirers.

Bathing daily, going for a walk, doing some exercise, eating nutritious food, reading books, offering prayers, appreciating  friends and relatives, saying please and thank you are some of the good habits.

Drinking, smoking, gambling, eating too much, oversleeping, criticizing others, losing temper and making excuses for not performing your duties and fulfilling your promises are a few bad habits.

Cursing is bad; blessing is good.

The best period for forming good habits and avoiding bad habits is childhood. Homes and educational institutions are the most important places for cultivating civilized behavior with good habits.

It is well said that habits are good servants but bad masters. Whereas they save your time, they snatch your liberty to change your life style.

The American clergy George B. Cheever (1807-90) said: Habit is the child of impulse. There is in human life the period of impulse, when habit is nothing; and there is the period of habit, when impulse is nothing. Young persons are creatures of impulse; old persons are creatures of habit. Almost everything is impulse with a little child, and nothing can be called habit; almost everything is habit in the second childhood of old age, and there is very little that can be called impulse. Impulse is habit in formation; habit is impulse fixed. When habit is once formed ,impulse is powerless against it. Indeed all impulse falls into it. It is like a deep and swift and resistless river, into which an opposing mountain current may pour with tremendous momentary shock and  agitation, but with no effect whatever, save to increase the volume, rapidity, and fury of the tide, which is turned downward to the sea.

To conclude, here is another significant quote: Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. ----American clergy George Dana Boardman (1828-1903).

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

!3 February 2025

INNOCENCE

 

          INNOCENCE  

Innocence is defined as ‘the fact of not being guilty of crime.’ This word is also used to mean ‘lack of knowledge and experience of the world, especially of evil or unpleasant things.’

Some synonyms of innocence are: purity, guiltlessness, blamelessness, integrity, faultlessness, integrity, chastity, righteousness, sinlessness, uprightness and incorruption.

  We are born innocent. It is our criminal or sinful activities as grownups which make us guilty.

The causes of losing innocence are :  greed, lust, enmity, envy, jealousy, illicit sexuality, anger, sloth, wrath and illegitimate desires.

Criminal actions are punishable by the relevant laws of a country.  Sins are punishable by God.  They are governed by the theory of karmas. Their painful effects affect us birth after birth.

Innocent people are mostly happy, peaceful, fearless, bold, healthy and restful.

Guilty ones are enslaved, nervous, anxious, sick , stressful, terrified and sleepless.

There can be people who are guilty but not detected. They, too, become nervous and insomniac. The Greek philosopher Socrates (died 15 Feb 399 BC)  is believed to have said: A guilty conscience needs no accuser.    

 Another proverb says, truth, which is as good as innocence, fears no examination.

Look at the following thoughts on innocence.

*The innocent seldom find an uneasy pillow.----The English poet William Cowper (1731-1800).

 

**Innocence is like polished armor; it adorns and defends. ----The English divine Robert South (1634-1716).

***Untainted thoughts do seldom dream on evil. ----The English dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

 

****They that do no evil will suspect none.----The English poet and playwright Ben Jonson (1572-1637).

 

            Finally, here is a beautiful quote:  “No child’s face is dirty even if it is muddy, because an innocent face has so much light that anything comes onto it becomes almost invisible!”

 

                                                            ******

G. R. Kanwal

12 February 2025  

 

INGRATITUDE

 INGRATITUDE

‘Ingratitude’ is thanklessness. It is lack of appreciation for some good done to you. Children are trained to say “Thank You” to those who do them some favour.

Ingratitude is like pride and is one of those seven things which God hates. They are: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Gratitude is a sign of good character. A gentleman is never ungrateful. Friends, relatives, colleagues, team-mates, subordinates, servants and even masters are expected to have a culture of gratitude.  

Human beings must always grateful to God for His innumerable blessings.  

Ingratitude bites, hurts, reduces friendliness, stops helpfulness and  breeds disaffection.

Among animals, dogs are not only most faithful but also grateful.

In the present-day selfish society, many children, friends and relatives have become offensively ungrateful.

According to the English poet-dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616) said: Ingratitude is monstrous, and for the multitude to be ingrateful were to make a monster of the multitude; of the which we being members, should bring ourselves to be monstrous members. -----Coriolanus, Act 2, Scene 3.

The following lines by the same poet-dramatist are more quotable:

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

As man’s ingratitude.     

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

…………

Freeze, freeze though bitter sky,

Thou dost not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remember’d not.----As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7.

 

            To conclude: this exclamation  also by Shakespeare: How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!

 

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G.R.Kanwal

11 February 2025