PARAGRAPH-WRITING
Model Paragraphs
“Laws are not masters but
servants, and he rules them
who obeys them.”
—H.W. Beecher
Laws are used to ensure political
stability, economic progress and
material prosperity for all. In an ideal
State, no one is supposed to be above
law. However, it is a serious
misconception on the part of some to
believe that laws are supreme and
human beings their subordinates. In
fact, it is the man who formulates and
frames the parameters of laws and
rules them by consciously and
conscientiously obeying them. He
proves to be the most just and fair
ruler, who goes by the rule book and
subordinates his own and those of his
kith and kin’s interests under the
impartial and non-partisan
implementation of laws, without fear
or favour. The one who fails to obey
laws in their letter and spirit, never
becomes a good ruler, nor a deliverer
of justice. If laws are not man’s
masters, they are equally not his
slaves either, to be whipped and
waylaid at the command of his
personal whims and warped wisdom.
Rule of law means obedience,
observance and operation of laws in
an atmosphere of transparency and
truthfulness.
“Between craft and credulity,
the voice of reason is
stifled.”
—Edmund Burke
Craft and credulity are the two
extremes of human perceptions and
practices which crush the voice of
reason and render life a perpetual
piece of ridicule and ribaldry. In an
age where science and scientific
temper enjoy the pride of place in
matters both personal and social,
unbridled credulity is an abject
aberration, that brings nothing but
mental torture in its train. Equally
vicious is the tendency on the part of
some to use craft to befool others and,
thus, rule the roost at the cost of those
who are taken in by sweet tongues.
Manipulation and employment of
cunning methods is as condemnable
as an ever-readiness to believe in
things unconvincing and irrational.
When craft and credulity become the
modus operandi of some persons, the
voice of reason gets stifled. For those
who are obsessed to use cunningness
as a way of life, on the one hand, and
blind faith, on the other, any talk of
reason is like casting pearls before a
swine. It is a waste of breath to
convince those who are fed on
superstitions and unfounded beliefs.
“Nothing is impossible to a
willing heart.”
—John Heywood
Deliberation, determination and
finally diving into the deep waters of
life is not a child’s play. But for the
one whose instincts, impulses and
intellect are in tune with his/her
concepts, nothing is impossible to
achieve. No chagrin or challenge is
big enough to thwart a heart from
taking the bull by the horns and
subduing it to such an extent that the
difficulty becomes a bed of roses.
None can mould an unwilling heart to
chisel the stone and make a statue out
of it that is a master piece. If
mountains have been shaken, rivers
tamed and all inimical and hostile
forces chastened, it is due to the risks
that willing hearts of pioneers, path-
breakers and adventurers had taken
906 ■ MAY 2002 ■ THE COMPETITION MASTER
in the past. The history of human race
is replete with such men and women
who embraced death with a smile on
their faces, and exultation in their
hearts, for goals sublime and supreme
in this existential world.
“Conscience and reputation
are two things. Conscience is
due to yourself and
reputation to your
neighbour.”
—St Augustine
Conscience is both a precious as
well as a personal possession, the like
of which does not exist in the entire
human psyche. Unless the neighbour
is impressed, rightly or wrongly, an
individual does not stand much
chance to be applauded or even
praised to the skies. Since one enjoys
complete control over one’s
conscience, there is very little that
others can do to smother or smear it.
The custodian of his conscience, and
the upholder of high moral values in
the face of stiff resistance or titillating
temptations, a person with conviction
and commitment can sail safe through
the journey of life with his
unwavering loyalty to his conscience.
On the other side of the fence, a
person whose vanity is fed and bred
on the charity of others, is seldom
sure, both of his reputation as well as
of his. If conscience keeps us on the
right track, reputation turns many a
head and, thus, renders the reputed or
the known fellow a puppet in the
hands of those who shower deserved
or ill-deserved praises on him.
A man with a clear conscience walks
with confidence and compassion,
whereas the one with borrowed
reputation, wobbles about here and
there.