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The Real Basis of Life

The Real Basis of Life


Morals, scruples and principles set humans apart from animals.
A life without commitment to them is a life without soul and spirit. I grew up seeing my father acting as a Head Examiner in various University examinations and never compromising on secrecy, fairness and justice. I studied in the same college where my father taught. He would set the question paper of the class I studied in, with doors shut. I never asked him as to what did he set in the examination. I knew he would never tell; he was not supposed to.

Tempered well in morality thus, it is very natural for me to respect high values in life. I have modeled my life on the path shown by my parents and I have always kept those high standards in my mind. I also fully endorse the viewpoint:
Character is the firm foundation stone upon which one must build to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be erected on a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character. (Samsel)

Hence, a strong character makes a strong personality and a weak character makes a weak personality. In my 23 years long career as a University College Lecturer, there have been several instances when I took a lot of encouragement and inspiration from the experiences of my father and put my foot down when required. Be it the invigilation duty in the University examination or the question paper-setting, I have always done what is correct. No amount of influence or pressure could move me from my principled stand. To be frank, even in a challenging situation, I have never faced a dilemma, ethical or otherwise. According to Max G.Andrew, "Dilemmas are experienced by those who have some kind of a doubt about their values and beliefs. When you are clear in your head, you seldom face dilemmas". (54)

Conviction grants clarity and you instantly know what is right and what is wrong. It takes no time to decide what to do and what not to do.

Character is something that one builds consciously and willingly. It is not gifted by God. Our attention has been repeatedly drawn by great thinkers towards the need of inculcating character through conscious effort, "You can not dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one" (Froude). One should also not forget that "Circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him" (Dyer). Once I was deputed to mark answer sheets at one of the University "Table-Marking" Centers. The answer sheets in such a scenario are not sent to the home of the examiners, rather the examiners are summoned to a particular Center to mark the answer-sheets. Only a set number of answer sheets, say fifty per day are allowed to be issued to each examiner to maintain some kind of a standard of marking. One of the officials deputed in the Center tried to entice me by offering me the liberty to check any number of copies I could in a day. I knew this was blatantly wrong so I politely declined the offer.

One must remember that virtue is something that needs real practice and mere slogan-raising won't do any good. Aristotle states, "We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts". Aristotle believed that by merely desiring to swim one doesn't become an accomplished swimmer by merely wishing to paint one cannot become a master painter. Excellence in art is achieved through hard and sincere practice. Similarly, in order to be virtuous, one needs to practice virtue in real life. Moral conviction should dictate our actions and our actions in turn reflect our character.

The next morning, the University official while giving me my bundle of the answer sheets for the day, whispered into my ears a request to take care of a particular roll number. Instead of reacting sharply to his audacity, I silently took the bundle and checked all the copies I would normally do; I paid no attention whatsoever to the roll numbers of the answer-sheets at all. It was only in the end when I sat down to make the awards list; I found out that the roll number mentioned by that unscrupulous official had failed miserably.



Works Cited

Andrew, Max G. "Dilemmas in Social Consciousness" Boundries
Within Jan.1996: 54.
Aristotle. "The Nichomachean Ethics: Chapter I" Book II: Moral
Virtue.1 April 2007 <http://nothingistic.org/library/
aristotle /nicomachean/nicomachean05.html>
Dyer, Wayne.W. "Dr. Wayne W. Dyer Quotes" Inspirational Words of
Wisdom . 1 April 2007 < http://www.wow4u.com/wayne- dyer/ index.html >
Froude, James A. "Quotes on Character". Leading Thoughts . 1
April 2007 <http:// www.leadershipnow.com/
characterquotes.html>
Samsel, R.C. "Quotes on Character". Leading Thoughts . 1 April
2007 <http:// www.leadershipnow.com/characterquotes.html>

Posted by: Anastasia T. Ray

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