Essay writing Topics – Self Discipline

‘Discipline’ means systematic training, especially of the mind and character, aimed at producing self control and obedience to regulations and authorities, The word may also mean self control resulting from such training. When we are very young, discipline is imposed on us by our parents and teachers. This early training is a necessary phase in the moulding of character. Its objective is to help us to develop into good and responsible adults. This imposed discipline must gradually guide and lead us develop to self-discipline or self-control. And self-control makes difference between a barbarian and a civilized human being.

Self control is the control exercised by a person on himself in his behaviour and in his thoughts, words, and deeds, restraining these from straying from the path of moral rectitude and integrity. Thus a self-disciplined person is one who will never delibrately violate the laws of God who will never delibrately hurt the feelings or legitimate interests of his fellow men and women, who cultivates good manners in his dealings with others. In short, he is a person who controls all his inborn evil inclination, which, unfortunately, all human beings have. He is, therefore absolutely incorruptible. He never neglects his duties towards God, towards his fellow men and women, or towards himself.

Self discipline is self-conquest, which is the greatest of all conquests. This is also the most difficult of all conquest, but its fruits are exceedingly beneficial. It brings us freedom from slavery to bad habits, and bestows on us the freedom of the children of God. Discipline is absolutely necessary for an orderly society. Without it social life becomes impossible. No nation can flourish, or even survive, except on the foundation of individual and social discipline. The greatest threat to India today is the extinction of sense of discipline among the people, and especially among the politicians.

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Essay writing Topics – Science and War

The connection of science with war has grown gradually more and more intimate. It began with Archimedes, who helped his cousin, the tyrant of Syracuse, to defend that city against the Romans were in 212 B.C. Though the Romans were victorious in spite of Archimedes’s scientific technique, science continued to play a part, and usually a decisive part, in war. Greek fire kept the Byzantine Empire in existence for centuries; Artillery destroyed the feudal system, and, by making English archery obsolete, gave the victory to the French, led by Joan of Arc.

The greatest men of the Renaissance commended themselves to the powerful by their skill in scientific warfare. When Leonardo da Vinci wanted to get a job from the Duke of Milan, he wrote the Duke a long letter about his improvements in the art of fortification. In the French Revolution such man of science as were not guillotined owed their immunity to their contributions to the war effort. In modern warfare, one nuclear physicist is worth more than many divisions of infantry.

Modern warfare, so far has not been more destructive of life than the warfare of less scientific ages, for the increased deadlines of weapons has been offset by the improvement in medicine and hygiene. There are, however, other respects in which the evils of war have much increased. A modern nation at war is more organized, and more completely concentrated on the effort to secure victory; then was possible in pre-industrial times, with the result that defeat is now more serious, more disorganizing, and more demoralizing to the general population than it was ever before.

The atom bomb and still more the hydrogen bomb have caused new fears, involving new doubts as to the effects of science on human life. Eminent scientists, including Einstein have pointed out that there is a danger of the extinction of all life on this planet. So, if human race is to escape from extermination, it will have to make very drastic changes in its ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. We must make a clear choice between Reason and Death, and ‘Reason’ means a willingness to submit to law as declared by an international authority.

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Essay writing Topics – Proper utilization Of time

The concept of “time” is difficult to define, but everyone knows what it is. Life on Earth is a continuous passage from one point of time to the next, and is limited in duration. Our thoughts, words, and deeds take place in time and utilize time. Success or failure in life depends on the way we utilize our time; and so does our happiness or unhappiness. Since nobody wants failure or unhappiness, it is obvious that everybody should strive to utilize time in such a way as to achieve maximum success and happiness.

Before attaining the age of reason, children cannot use or waste time consciously, since they are not aware of the value of time. But even when they grow older, many people never think of the value of time. Even the longest life on earth is really very limited in duration. It is, therefore, extremely important that we should take care not to waste even a moment in idleness or frivolous enjoyment. The time given to us on earth is a very precious gift of God. If we lose money, we may be able to make up the loss. But time lost is lost forever; it can never be retrieved.

For all of us, the time available for study or work is limited. About one-third of our life is spent in sleep. A great deal of our time is taken up by such activities as playing, eating, bathing and so on. We should, therefore, put the remaining time to the maximum possible use. There are some people who manage to work as much twelve hours a day, or even more. But most people work much less, and waste a lot of time. The tendency to fritter away time has also been growing steadily. How many millions of people spend hour  after hour, even day after day, watching games of cricket, or silly films, on the “idiot box”. This, surely is criminal waste of time.

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Essay Writing Topics – Patriotism

Patriotism is devotion to one’s country, and readiness to serve it and to defend it against its enemies. The word ‘patriotism’ comes from the Latin word, patria, which means ‘fatherland’. In a very narrow sense, patriotism may mean one’s love for the geographical area which one regards as one’s native land. In this sense even some wild animals have a kind of patriotism, for they mark out their own “territories” into which they don’t allow other animals to trespass. Lions and tigers do this do this conspicuously. Even some domestic dogs do this.

But to human beings, patriotism is not such a narrow concept. To them, ‘patriotism’ embraces also the people of the country. This is the patriotism that has been extolled by poets from time immemorial, down through the ages to our own day. A true patriot’s ambition is to make his country great, prosperous, and powerful. He obeys the just laws of his country, and is always ready to sacrifice his own life to defend the honour and freedom of his country. He makes his own old Roman maxim, “Duleet decorum est propatria mori” (It is sweet and proper to die for one’s fatherland)

Patriotism, however, should never degenerate into ultra nationalism. The kind of patriotism is called ‘jingoism’, or ‘chunvinism’. This is an extreme and unreasonable belief that one’s own country is superior to all others, coupled with a bellicose attitude towards them. The Germans under Hilter, the Italians under Mussolini, and the Japanese under Emperor Hirohito embraced this pernicious philosophy. The inevitable consequence was defeat in war and national humiliation.

In the modern context, however, when high-speed means of transportation and communication have, in a metaphorical sense, shrunk the world into a tightly-knit neighbourhood community, the concept of patriotism or devotion to a limited geographical area, appears to be dismally narrow- minded and outdated.

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Essay writing – Character Development

Character is the sum total of all the mental and moral qualities and traits that distinguish a person from other persons. When a person has only good qualities, and no bad qualities, we can say that his character is totally good. On the other hand, if a person has only bad qualities and no good qualities, we can say his character is totally bad.

However most human beings are neither totally good, nor totally bad. Practically everybody has good qualities as well as bad qualities. So, for all practical purposes, we call someone a “good person” if good qualities predominated in his character: and we call someone a “bad person” if bad qualities predominated in his character. It is an undeniable fact that all human beings have some congenital bad inclinations. Though in varying degrees, everybody is inclined towards such vices as selfishness, pride, greed, laziness, and sexual immorality. No religion seems to have an explanation for this distressing phenomenon.

Though we are born with these evil inclinations, it is our duty to struggle against them and to overcome them. This duty is imposed on us by God himself, who is absolutely purity and Absolutely goodness. We are all His children, and it is His will that we should also be pure and good.

Overcoming evil inclinations involves the cultivation of their opposite virtues, such as honesty, truthfulness, kindness, unselfishness, generosity, love of God, love of fellow men and women, and moral integrity in its widest sense. The sum total of all these virtues is what may be termed a good and noble character.

Character- building should start in child-hood. Parents and teachers should pay very special attention to  this important aspects of the training for life. Lovingly, but firmly, they should guide the children in such a way that they will themselves become eager to avoid such faults as disobedience, lying and quarrelling with other children. Without such guidance children cannot be expected to grow up into adults of good character. Right motivation is the key to success in our struggle against bad tendencies. And the right motive is the love of God and the desire to please Him. This is the basis of character-formation.

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Essay writing Topics – One world, one government

“One world, one Government the whole world governed by one Government”. Doubtless the idea will be rejected off hand as preposterous by our politicians and statesmen, by the rulers of the world’s sovereign, independent states. For if mankind should one day become sane enough to establish a World Government, what would petty men do after that? How would they accumulate wealth for themselves and their families?

And yet, with the establishment of a Government that rules over the whole world, with the abolition of our present sovereign independent states, most of the evils that plague mankind could be eliminated. There would be no wars; there would be no nuclear holocausts; there would be no armies, no navies, and no air forces. And there would be no fear of overpopulation for a long time to come; there would no customs, no passports, and no trade barriers; there would be no poverty, no starvation, no filth, no squalor, any more. There would be, on the other hand, prosperity for everyone in this world. This sounds like a dream, a wonderful dream, but an impossible dream. But let’s examine the facts.

The nations of the world spend millions upon millions dollars every single second on war preparations – maintaining immense armies, navies, and air forces, and manufacturing unbelievable quantities of arms and ammunition, including, of course, nuclear bomb and misuses. With the abolition of the world’s 159 sovereign states, and the establishment of a World Government, all these military forces could be eliminated end all this military spending could immediately be brought to an end. And all the prodigious quantities of money thus saved could be diverted to creative projects spreads over the whole word. That money alone would be enough to provide every single human being with food, clothing and shelter, and adequate facilities for education.

The bogey of overpopulation could also be laid to rest. For the truth is, if all the habitable area of the whole earth is taken into account, the world today is far from being over populated. The World Government could encourage migration, and eventually there would be an even distribution of population over the whole earth. Consider just one instance. Australia’s land area is 7,682,300 square kilometres, while its population is just fifteen million. At the same time, Indian-state of Kerala has a land are of just 38,863, square kilometres and a population of over twenty-five million. In other words, while Australia’s density of population’s less than two parsons per square Kilometre, that of Kerala is more than 693 persons per square Kilometre!

So long as there are independent sovereign states in the world, wars will continue – small wars, big wars; and world wars. And the next world war, if it should ever be fought, will, without doubt bring about the quick extermination, not only of the human race, but also of all forms of life on earth. Which alternative will mankind choose? Our choice, then, is simple enough – the establishment of a World Government and a happy future for mankind, or a nuclear holocaust and the extinction of all life on earth.

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Essay writing Topics – India Cinema

The cinema is today one of the most popular form of entertainment. There is not a town or city which does not have several cinema theatres. In fact, almost every village has at least one. The production of films is a huge and, often, very Lucrative business. A great film like ‘Ben-Hur’, or ‘The Ten Commandments’, costs million of dollars.

Films are made in studios. The studios of film companies contain several stages, each of which is reserved for the production of a particular picture. But often several scenes have tobe “shot” on “locations” far away from the studio. Weeks of practice and rehearsals are required to make a picture perfect. Acting in cinemas is now distinct profession, and top “stars” are paid fabulous salaries.

Apart from being a form of popular entertainment, the cinema has great educational value. Films can help educationists to impart knowledge quickly, easily, and clearly. A historical picture, for instance, will help a teacher of history very greatly. For a couple of hours spent in the company of historical personages, dressed in the proper costumes of the period, can teach the student far more than he can learn from a  whole week’s reading of a text- book of history. So also, when students watch on the screen a play of Shakespeare’s, they get much better idea of that play than when they merely read it.

In the teaching of science and history, the cinema even more useful. There are educational film companies which film the life and habits of animals, insects, and plants. Watching these pictures, the students are helped to study Nature, if not at first hand, at least in a comparable way.

Unfortunately the vast majority of films have no educative value at all. A great many pander to passions of the lowest kind. Sex, violence, and crime are the ingredients of which they are concocted. The so- called “blue- films”, made and distributed surreptitiously, are truly diabolical, for they encourage depravity of every kind. These horrendous masterpieces of immorality are unfortunately becoming more and more popular, not only with susceptible young people; but even with the older generation. It is high time that governments throughout the world took effective measures to combat this satanic menace.

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Essay writing Topics – Importance of Punctuality

Punctuality is the habit of doing things promptly at the proper time. It must be considered a cardinal virtue because of its beneficial fruits, and also because of the harmful effects a lack of it can produce. In most enterprises, punctuality is the key to success. Procrastination, the vice opposite to punctuality, can bring nothing but failure. Often it brings ruin and disaster.

A student, for instance who comes late for an examination may not be able to write that examination at all. Failure and the loss of a year may be the result. A business who is late for an important conference risks the danger of missing an opportunity to expand his business or to secure highly profitable business orders or contracts.

A farmer who fails to sow his field at the right time cannot hope to have a good crop. And if he fails to reap the field in time, he may suffer the loss of even the small crop he has. Being punctual is not a burden. When we begin and finish our work punctually we feel great mental satisfaction. We also get plenty of time relax, or to play, or to enjoy leisurely activities. Punctuality benefits not only the individual concerned, but also other members of society. On the other hand, lack of punctuality on the part of a single individual may cause much harm to many other persons.

If the driver of a bus or a train, or the pilot of a plane, should be unpunctual, he is sure to inconvenience all his passengers. Some of them may even suffer heavy financial or other losses because they don’t arrive at their destinations at the expected time. If the rulers or the military commanders of a country should fail to take precautionary defensive measure in time, that country runs the risk of being attacked and subjugated or humiliated by a more alert enemy country. It is imperative that children should be trained in punctuality so that they may acquire this very important virtue at an early age. This is necessary for them, and for society as a whole.

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Essay Writing Topics – Importance of Newspaper

Newspapers and magazines were a rarity even in the eighteenth century. But during the last two centuries, as education spread and more and more people learned to read, more and more newspapers began to appear. Today, even in backward countries, there are plenty of newspapers and periodicals which appear in many languages.

In India today, though nearly 450 million people are still illiterate, there is a bewildering variety of newspapers and periodicals, which appear in many languages. This is because we have many millions of literate and educated people who are interested in gathering news and informing themselves of developments in the world. Most of the popular newspapers in India are those published in English. But there are also a great many newspapers published in Indian languages, which enjoy very large circulations.

Obviously, the number of Indians interested in reading newspaper is very large. Among educated people, English – language newspaper are most popular. These people usually read also another newspaper in their own mother- tongue. Even people who do not normally read books have the habit of reading newspapers. Even heavily over-worked people manage to set apart some time to read newspapers. People want to read newspapers, because, from them they can get much up-to-date information about what has been happening in the world recently, especially during the previous day.

The information brought by newspapers covers various spheres of human activity, and other developments. Political development around the world, industrial activity, financial matters, business information, sports news – these are all there. There are in a newspapers reports from correspondents about natural calamities, murders and other crimes, violations of human rights, police brutality, charitable activities of human organizations and individuals, and a great many others matters of general interest. An important service rendered by newspapers is the publication of advertisements. Actually, most newspapers depend on the revenues coming from advertisers for their economic well-being.

An advertisement covers a very large range of human needs and requirements. Those who have got something to sell, those who want to buy some particular thing or other, those who are looking for brides or grooms, those who want servants or workers, those who want information about courses of studies  available in educational institutions, and those who have various other requirements, consult the advertisement columns in the newspapers.

Some newspapers publish obituaries, which bring information about demise of relatives or friends even before the information comes from the other sources. The editorials in some newspapers are packed information and creative criticism. They serve as a guide to readers in forming their own opinions about political and other developments. Some newspapers also provide some space for the publication of letters from readers. This is an encouragement to intellectually inclined readers. Newspapers thus render a tremendous amount of service to the educated public. They thus contribute much towards the continued education of the reading public.

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Essay writing topics- Good Manners

The term, ‘Good Manner’, is usually defined as “socially acceptable behaviour”. This, however, is not a satisfactory definition. For “socially acceptable behaviour” may quite possibly consist of a set of insincere decorative conventions just a superficial or artificial show? A better definition would be “A pleasing social behaviour proceeding from sincere respect and considerations for others”. Here, “consideration” may be described as “imaginative sympathy”, or “extrospection”, a sincere desire to see into the minds of others and to share their feelings.

The possession of good manners is the mark of civilized person. The titles, “gentleman” and “lady” can be applied only to people with good manners. People without good manners are despised as uncultured barbarians. Persons with good manners are respectful towards their superiors, courteous towards their equals, kind and considerate towards their inferiors. There is an elegant decorum in their social behaviour.

Children should be trained in good manners at home: and the teaching of good manners should be an integral component of education at school and college. The consequences of the neglect of training in good manners are noticeable all around us. Everywhere we find men and women who call themselves “educated”, but are absolutely without good manners.

These people are totally self-centred, and care nothing for the rights, or feelings, or convenience of others. They hate standing in a queue. They push and shove aside everybody else in order to get into a bus or train first, occupy the first available seats and refuse to give them up to ladies or frail, old people. At public dinners and tea-parties they display absymal ignorance of civilized table manners; they do not know how to use forks, spoons or knives; they eat the food like voracious cormorant, producing pig like noise while chewing food with their mouths open and spitting right and left at intervals.

They have no inhibitions about yawning without covering their mouths or about picking their noses or ears, even in the midst of people. There are innumerable other ways in which these people offended civilized society, and earn for themselves the name of savage barbarians. All this show how important it is for everyone to learn good manners.

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Essay writing – Duties and responsibilities

“Duty” means “moral or legal obligation in general”. It can also mean a particular task or action that a person is bound to perform for moral or legal reasons. The notion of duty derives from the notion of the existence of an Almighty God, Creator and Lord of all things. From His absolute sovereignty and authority over all His creatures, and their absolute and essential dependence on Him, arise all the duties of all His creatures. Human beings are the only rational creatures on earth. We alone have been endowed with the capacity to know God and to realize that we have certain towards Him, and also other duties derived from these primary duties.

Our duties towards Gods are: to adore him as our Supreme Lord and Master; to love Him as our most loving Father; to obey all His commandments: to thank Him for creating us and looking after us with loving care; to trust in His love and mercy; to beg His pardon for our sins; and to pray for His grace and blessings. The duties that are derived from these primary duties are towards our fellow men and women, and towards us.

It is our duty to love our fellow human beings as we loved ourselves.  This is because we are all God’s children, and therefore, brothers and sisters the one another. We have specific duties to different people. To our parents and teachers, we owe love, respect and obedience. Parents have the duty to love and bring up their children properly. Teachers have to guide and impart knowledge to their pupils. All of us have the duty to help the poor and the needy. We have also duties as citizens of a country.

Our basic duty to ourselves is to live good and virtuous lives, because that is what God want us to do, and what is necessary to attain everlasting happiness in the next world. It is our duty, too, to strive hard to succeed in our profession or occupation and to take reasonable care of our bodies.

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Essay writing – Dignity of Labour

By “labour” we usually mean “productive physical toil, done for wages”. But this too restricted a definition of the word. For, first, no kind of labour performed by a human being is purely physical toil, and, second, all work is not done for wages. In all kinds of work done by human beings, the mind is involved, though in some kinds of work, physical labour may predominated. There are other kinds of labour in which mental exertion predominates. Office work, for instance, is predominantly mental. When students study, they are engaged in predominantly mental is the work done by teachers.

Physical labour, unfortunately, has always been held to be inferior to mental work. In olden days, manual labour was despised and entrusted to slaves. In fact, many Greece and the Roman republic, depended states were ruled by aristocratic minorities, and professions, and left all manual labour to slaves. In most countries of the world, this kind of slavery does not exist now a day. But in many parts of India, it still survives under the name of “bonded labour”.

The attitude towards manual labour as something inferior and unworthy of educated persons deserves to be condemned as wrong and immoral. For all work is divine worship: “to work is to pray”. Whatever work we do is ennobled by our own dignity as children of God.  It is not the kind of work we do that confers dignity on us; it is we, as children of God, who confer dignity on the work we do. This is a truth that everybody should be recognized.

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Essay Writing – Speech Topics on Courage

Courage is the mental power to overcome fear and face danger or opposition or other adverse circumference, either in the physical, or in the moral sphere. The power and ability to conquer fear when facing physical dangers is physical courage; and the power and ability to uphold and fight fearlessly for one’s religious faith or moral principles is moral courage. A person with moral courage will stand by his principles even if this should entail public disapproval, odium, contempt, ridicule and social ostracism. Physical courage and moral courage may or may not exist together in the same person. One may be physically brave, but morally pusillanimous; and one may be physically a coward, but morally brave.

A solider may boldly face even death on the battle field, but he may not be able to bear the jeers and ridicule hurled at him by his fellows on account of his moral purity or his habit of praying to God. This man has physical courage, but no moral courage. There are men who boldly defy public opinion for conscience sake, but cannot face physical torture or danger to life. Such a men are morally brave, but suffer from physical cowardience. Those who have neither physical nor moral courage are total coward; and those who have both physical and moral courage are true heroes.

Moral courage is infinitely superior to physical courage. To stand alone and isolated, to defy public opinion, to risk the loss of friendship and companionship, to rouse opposition, contempt and hatred by daring to do what is right-this is supreme moral courage. Patriots who fight and die for national independence and people who lay down their lives in defence of their religious faith are true heroes. The thousands of Indians who fought against the British under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and suffered imprisonment, torture and death were true heroes. And so were the martyrs who suffered persecution and death in defence of their religious faith during the last many centuries.

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Essay writing – Strikes in India

When the Industrial Revolution began in England, those who were employed in the factories were at the mercy of their employers. Their wages were low, and if they asked for higher wages, they would be simply dismissed, because there were plenty of other poor workers to replace them. This situation was unjust, and, gradually, the workers realized that they could acquire strength by forming unions. Trade Unions came into being thus, and they established the principle and practice of “collective bargaining”

Employer had now to deal with the united bodies of their workers, and the workers could bargain, from the position of strength, with their employers for higher wages, shorter hours, and better conditions of work in the factory. The weapon wielded by the Trade Union was the “strike”- a refusal to continue their work except on certain conditions.

Armed with this powerful weapon, Trade Unions, were able to lift the working classes to higher levels, and secure for them better wages, shorter hours, healthier conditions, and a measure of independence. Trade unionism has spread to every country in the world, and has brought great benefits to the working classes everywhere. But these are evils and danger connected with strikes. Beyond certain limits, they can totally destructive. They may cause harm that industries may collapse, and the workers may find themselves unemployed. Led by immoderate leaders, trade unions sometimes paralyse industries. And when investors find the condition intolerable, they shift their factories to other places where the workers are more ready to co-operate with their employers.

In Kerala, unionized workers, by their irrational and fanatical behaviour, have forced a great many industrialists to shift their factories to other states, like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is impossible for any Government in Kerala to attract investors to the State, because Kerala has become notorious for the belligerency and violent behaviour of the workers. No one wants to invest here, because no believes that any industry can flourish here.

Unfortunately, the trade union mentality has spread into public services and educational institutions. Even students of primary schools are made to go on strike by the so- called “student- leaders” at their own will and pleasure. This, tendency, naturally destroys the very fabric of education. Unionized Government employees go on strike frequently asking for higher salaries, and paralyse work in government offices. Worst of all, political parties frequently call for hartals and bandhs, which paralyse the whole state. These anti-social activities must be curbed. But who can do that, when the politicians, who the state, themselves support and encourage or even organize them?

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Essay Writing – Ambition in Life

“Ambition” is a very strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction. Ambition can be good or bad. An ambition to achieve a good object is good, and an ambition to achieve a bad object is bad. To succeed well in one’s studies, to attain a high position in society, to become rich and prosperous, to become famous – these are all good ambition if the means adopted to achieve them are good. But far more praiseworthy is the ambition to do well to others. The ambition to become doctor in order to serve the sick and alleviate their suffering is a noble ambition.

To become a school teacher or a college professor in order to spread knowledge and to educate young people is an equally noble ambition. Similarly, it is an exceedingly noble ambition to devote on self to the upliftment and welfare of the poor, miserable sections of society. This is especially so in India, where nearly 400 million people live in abject poverty, squalor, and misery, without food, clothing or shelter, illiterate, ignorant and superstitious, exploited and downtrodden, despises and treated as outcasts and untouchables.

Ambition is the driving force that makes people make the necessary effort to achieve success in their chosen profession or calling. Therefore, children and young people should be encouraged to cultivated noble ambitions. It is the sacred duty of parents and teachers to engender and foster noble ambitions in the children and young people entrusted to their care.

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