"Being human" is a phrase that is being subjected to much speculation and many explanations today. What makes a Homo Sapien a HUMAN? Is it his intellect? Emotions? Morals? Certain qualities gained through nature and nurture? To be honest, a lot of factors. It is apt to say that truthfulness, a quality that should be planted and preserved in man, is prime among these.
Man, being a social being, builds his life upon his connections with others. For these connections to stay strong, they must be built with the "trust" factor. They must be preserved and strengthened by "love". When he finds himself in need, he should be able to have "faith" in others to help him. All these factors are rooted in one basic trait- truthfulness.
The ability to distinguish right and wrong gives us the duty to take the path that is right. The ability to utter a truth or a lie gives us the chance to take either path. Let us rewind time a bit. We stop at your infant days, and see you innocently stumbling, smiling and sobbing. Let us go a little further, to your school days. There might have been some sneaking off of a stray pencil or eraser. There might have been a little lie told to your teacher to get out of punishment. Going a tad bit more further, we find you not hesitating to utter little white lies to friends, parents, and teachers. Now we stop at your interview. Except for your name and resume, majority of the answers that helped you bag the job were, let's face it, lies. So ask yourself a question, are you true? The answer is most probably a "Well......." accompanied by a sheepish smile.
Now ask yourself another question, are you human? Not in the physical sense, in the moral sense? This question is harder to answer. A famous quote says "An honest man does not need to remember a lot". "A lot" here, are the lies he has told. Being truthful gives us a clean conscience and a clear mind. But it is not enough to always say the truth to others, it is more important to stay true to yourself.
An indignant answer to the previous question is "It is impossible to be truthful in today's world!" Rethink. It is not impossible. It is just inconvenient. Relationships and social bonds are deteriorating at a rapid rate. Lies are the new truths. Selfishness and greed go hand in hand in corrupting men. The modern world is, in all its facets, twisted. To mend our bonds and revive our rotting world, there is a simple and very inconvenient way. Being truthful. Anyone can get out of an unpleasant situation with a lie. But it takes courage and character to be truthful in the face of adversities.
Our pockets are full, but we are still poor. Poor in the moral sense, poor, owing to the fact that we are not truthful. Truthfulness is not only a way to God, it is also a way to finding ourselves. Being truthful is not being weak; it is being strong in character. Being truthful does not mean that the world can get the better of you; it means that you can make the make the world better. To be truthful is to be free. To be truthful is to be human.
Man, being a social being, builds his life upon his connections with others. For these connections to stay strong, they must be built with the "trust" factor. They must be preserved and strengthened by "love". When he finds himself in need, he should be able to have "faith" in others to help him. All these factors are rooted in one basic trait- truthfulness.
The ability to distinguish right and wrong gives us the duty to take the path that is right. The ability to utter a truth or a lie gives us the chance to take either path. Let us rewind time a bit. We stop at your infant days, and see you innocently stumbling, smiling and sobbing. Let us go a little further, to your school days. There might have been some sneaking off of a stray pencil or eraser. There might have been a little lie told to your teacher to get out of punishment. Going a tad bit more further, we find you not hesitating to utter little white lies to friends, parents, and teachers. Now we stop at your interview. Except for your name and resume, majority of the answers that helped you bag the job were, let's face it, lies. So ask yourself a question, are you true? The answer is most probably a "Well......." accompanied by a sheepish smile.
Now ask yourself another question, are you human? Not in the physical sense, in the moral sense? This question is harder to answer. A famous quote says "An honest man does not need to remember a lot". "A lot" here, are the lies he has told. Being truthful gives us a clean conscience and a clear mind. But it is not enough to always say the truth to others, it is more important to stay true to yourself.
An indignant answer to the previous question is "It is impossible to be truthful in today's world!" Rethink. It is not impossible. It is just inconvenient. Relationships and social bonds are deteriorating at a rapid rate. Lies are the new truths. Selfishness and greed go hand in hand in corrupting men. The modern world is, in all its facets, twisted. To mend our bonds and revive our rotting world, there is a simple and very inconvenient way. Being truthful. Anyone can get out of an unpleasant situation with a lie. But it takes courage and character to be truthful in the face of adversities.
Our pockets are full, but we are still poor. Poor in the moral sense, poor, owing to the fact that we are not truthful. Truthfulness is not only a way to God, it is also a way to finding ourselves. Being truthful is not being weak; it is being strong in character. Being truthful does not mean that the world can get the better of you; it means that you can make the make the world better. To be truthful is to be free. To be truthful is to be human.
No comments:
Post a Comment