A rich snob planned a
pilgrimage to the Holy Lands of Christians and Jews. He met an elderly teacher
and discussed his plans. He said, “My greatest ambition is to reach the top of
Mount Sinai, where Moses, the prophet and leader of Jews is believed to have
received the 'Ten Commandments' from God. Standing there, I will proclaim aloud
the ‘Ten Commandments of God’ to the whole world with all my energy.” The
teacher advised him, “In my opinion it would be much more rewarding if you
could practice the commandments at home and your office instead of shouting
from the mount.”
An admirer of the
poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once told the poet that if children are given
absolute freedom to take decisions, their personality would grow to full
potential. The poet showed the visitor his garden. “Is it a garden? I would
call it a forest”, remarked the guest on seeing the weeds covering the garden.
Coleridge replied, “It was my beautiful rose garden. I thought I should give
the plants full freedom to grow up naturally. What you see is the result of
that freedom!
Tom and Jerry were close friends
studying in an Indian school. They learned in their class about the history of
the struggle for Indian independence. They were talking about freedom and walking
along a busy road to the school. Jerry said, “Ours is a free nation and we have
the freedom to walk along the centre of the road. But Tom was more cautious. He
told Jerry about the rule of the road taught in their earlier class.
Pedestrians were advised to walk along the right side of the road and the
vehicles had to keep the left side while driving. That would let a pedestrian clearly see the vehicles coming towards him.
The vehicles coming from behind him would go by the other side of the road, at
a safe distance.
But Jerry was
adamant. He told Tom, “Don’t forget that we are free citizens of independent India
Freedom is not the right to do as we please,
but the liberty to do what we ought to do. Rules are framed to make our freedom
full and fair. Voluntary sacrifice of personal rights is the basis of peaceful
social life. There is no liberty without limitations; no freedom without
responsibility. Rules of religions and institutions and the laws of our Nation
do not curtail our freedom; they make our liberty a reality. Cicero
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