Life Management

As human beings, we exploit each other. How can we overcome this tendency?

Speaking Tree| TOI | April 2, 2011

Exploitation is misuse of freedom and freedom is an integral part of life. Freedom cannot be abolished. Try to save yourself from exploitation. Accept that this is part of life and it cannot be wished away. Exploitation has a positive angle, too. It leads to competition and competition leads to challenges. And challenges lead to human progress.

What is the difference in adjustment & compromise?

The Speaking Tree | Sunday, August 15, 2010

There is a great difference. Adjustment is a principle of wisdom; it is the well considered behaviour of a wise person; while compromise is a form of expediency, designed merely to source one’s interests without following any principle.

Is freedom the summum bonum, or greatest good?

The Speaking Tree | Sunday, June 27, 2010

I subscribe to the concept presented by the American psychologist B. F. Skinner, in his book Freedom and Dignity, which is that man cannot afford freedom. Total freedom leads to anarchy, and anarchy is not a workable system for any society. So, the best formula is that which is based on controlled freedom. Uncontrolled freedom is a negative freedom and controlled freedom is positive freedom.

How should one respond in case of Differences?

Differences are a part of life. A divergence of views and behaviour arises between people for a variety of reasons. Just as differences occur among unbelievers and apostates similarly differences occur between sincere and pious people. But even if differences cannot be prevented, that is no reason, for any individual to indulge in negative behaviour. It should be borne in mind that despite differences, positive behaviour is both a possibility and a necessity.

What is the Importance of Social Work?

One of the noble feelings that man should possess is the urge or desire to come to the assistance of others. He should fulfill their needs without expecting any return.

What is the Importance of Working on the Individual?

A man was riding his bicycle one day when suddenly his brake jammed. Luckily there was a bicycle repair-shop nearby, so he took his bike there to have it fixed. Thinking that the mechanic would fix the brake at the point where it was jammed, the cyclist was surprised to see him tap away with a small hammer at a completely different place. Before he was able to express his surprise, however, the mechanic handed the bike over. “That’s fixed it. You can take it away now,” he said. And off the cyclist rode, with his bike once again running smoothly.

What is the Secret of Success?

“I have reached my present position by climbing a ladder and not by coming up to it in a lift.” This observation was made by a tailor who had started with nothing but his own two hands and the will to work, and who had become eminently successful in his line of business. “Making a good coat is not child’s play. The whole process is so complicated that without detailed information as to how to proceed, long experience and a high degree of skill, it is almost impossible to accomplish. It is only after a lifetime of hard work that I have succeeded in running a prosperous shop in the city.”