Amplification Writing IV

Charity begins at home

It is a well-known proverb, and if we followed it, it could contribute It is a welards social welfare. Charity means the disposition to think favourably of others and to help them. The proverb means you should fook after those nearest and dearest to you before you turn your attention to others further afield. Almost every proverb is a wise saying because it crystallizes human experiences of thousands of years. We could do well to follow it, but unfortunately very few people follow it. As regards this proverb, it is very often found that a man is helpful to those who are not his family members, nor are they his near and dear ones or relatives. He helps them in their distress with whatever sort of things they need money, advice, or supporn But he is very much uncharitable with his near and dear ones, though it seems strange to us. He is harsh with his family members, does not help any of his relatives who are in distress, or in need of help. He behaves in this way perhaps from a motive of becoming popular with people in society with a still ulterior motive of being a leader some day. On the other hand, a man who is quite opposite to the type stated above is also not rare. Such a man is very charitable, that is helpful, to the members of his family, and his relative, near and dear ones, but is absolutely callous to people beyond them, those who are not his relatives. Though it is natural to some extent, at least natural in comparison with the type described above, it is not absolutely right, if we consider it in the light of the proverb. The proverb implies that charity (the attitude of helpfulness) should begin at home, but should not remain confined there. It should spread outward in an ever- widening circle till it covers the whole world. In this circle, the nearer a man the more charity he should receive and sooner. The more distant one is from the charitable man, charity to him should be later and less. So the charity of a man, who is capable enough, should reach the limits of the earth.

Amplification

 Conference makes a ready man

This topic is part of the sentence, "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man" which occurs in Bacon's essay "Of Studies." Our topic for discussion here is the second point in the statement, "Conference a ready man.The word "Conference" is the noun derivative from the verb "confer" which means to talk or discuss together. And the word "ready" here means ready-witted, or prompt in talking about or discussing things with other people.

Talking is a social skill, and much of our success in life depends on this skill. Of course, talking here does not mean idle-talking, which is often indulged in a meeting between friends. Here talking means talking with people for the purpose of effective oral communication. It is required in many spheres of our life: we need to talk to our family members, to our friends, members of our community, to strangers in different situations, to members of a meeting or conference, to members of the interview board in a job interview, and so on. But in all such situations we should not bungle our talk or conversation, if we want success. We should handle our conversation expertly, by all means. But expertness, what Bacon calls "ready"-ness, does not come of itself. It has to be acquired through long and constant and regular practice in "conference", that is participating in various forms of conversation. One should talk carefully, and with the purpose of communication, even with his family members. One should not be entirely callous about effective communication while talking even with his most intimate friends and close relatives. And one has to be very careful in a situation of a gathering of more than two people. Only having practiced conference (conversation) in such different situations can one become an expert conversationalist. Bacon's words mean that.

 Cowards die many times before their death

 Death is the end of life. Once a person dies, it is never possible for him to come back to life. Nobody can, therefore, die more than once. The statement "Cowards die many times before their death" is actually highly paradoxical. Superficially it states an impossible fact but it has a meaning of deeper significance. A coward is a person who is always very eager to avoid danger or any sort of difficulty. Cowards never take any risk. They always tualways backs on any Cowards never eventurous activity. They death. Whenever they dangerous are, therefore, obsessed with dea that they are they find death ends in a difficult situation, they fe their actual deathying. In this way, they die hundreds of times before their actual death. On the other hand, the brave and valiant people never fear death. They never think of death in their life-time and face any difficult situation fearlessly and courageously. Brave people never live in apprehension of death. In the midst of their activities, they once embrace death and it brings their life to an end. So valiant people have the taste of death only once in their life unlike cowards who die many times in their life. The statement can be interpreted in another way. We know that life means activity and death is cessation of activity. Brave people always engage themselves in all sorts of activity and in this way they enjoy life. On the contrary, cowards spend their time idly doing nothing. Their idleness and inactivity show that they are dead people. So staying away from work they die a sort of death every day. In this way too, cowards die many times before their actual death.

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched 

We should dream but that dream should be based on reality. Whatever we plan for future should be founded on the present situations in a coherent way. If we are wrong in our calculation, the plan may go awry. There goes the proverb: 'Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. One may imagine that the chickens will come out of eggs which he might sell in the market, earning a good amount of money. But it is unwise to calculate in advance. Future is always uncertain. One should not be too confident that something will happen; something may still go wrong. One cannot be hundred percent sure that everything will go according to plan. If a farmer counts the chickens and sell them in the market before they are hatched, his calculation may be wrong. The hatching hen may die or the eggs may rot in the meantime. Only after the hatching is complete, he can see how many eggs have turned into chickens and how many have not. Therefore it would be wise for the farmer to let the eggs hatch first and then think of their selling in the market. That is most practical. Any kind of impractical future plan in will be abortive, bringing shock for the planner. One must be prudent making a future plan. If one dreams of owning a luxurious house and car, sitting one should hen the possibility is very slim, then he is daydreaming. One should not calculate the profit of production before the cropsomething and harvested. One must have the auction be waiting till something happens in reality. He must the patience jumping to a hasty conclusion, favouring him in an uncertain fray The situation may indeed be unfavourable for him. The away gain may turn detrimental to a person's own interest.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

A gift is always good people like gift not because it is free but because they get care of others who spend part of their income to make them feel happy. It comes as the greeting from a well wisher. Sometimes a gift may not be liked by a recipient as it may not come to his taste or it may be defective. But a gift is gift and it should not be taken in its face value. One should value a gift not in terms of money but in terms of heart. Gift is not necessarily meant to be of practical utility but it symbolises the wish of welfare. A person presents a gift to another as a token of warm relationship between them or it is given to solidify relationship between them. If the intention of a gift is good, then it should also be received heartily. A gift should never be criticised. The proverb says: 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. The mouth of the horse may be ugly or deformed but it would not be wise to reject it. The rejection of the gift will be tantamount to dishonouring the person. The gift giver will feel disheartened and insulted. It will be a mean-minded act on the part of the gift recipient. If one gets a shirt as a gift and he cannot like it for its colour or texture, he must not return it. Rather he will keep it with utmost thanks even though he will not be able to wear it. This is the norm of gift exchange. If one gets a pen as a gift and finds that it does not write well, he must not throw it back on the gifter's face. He must be grateful that people love him and send him gift. A gift may be petty, but it is always pretty.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Human life is full of sorrow. Humans feel sorry when they find life depressive. Sometimes it appears to them that they are surrounded by the clouds of hazards and there is no end to it. But every cloud has a silver lining. It means that the cloud, however black or big it is, will clear off in due course and the sun will be seen. The sky gets overcal is to be with cloud only for hours or days and not for ever. After the crying phenomenon the sky, the sun smiles with radiant rays. Cloud is temporary and you there is the glaringe same darkness from the face of the earth. The same observed in human life. Human life goes through of happiness and sorrow, Some days the sorrow live in and after that he will fall in sorrow. The sorrow over, he will a get the touch of happiness. There is no unmixed happiness or some in anybody's life. It is the nature of life and world. So when one a phase of sorrow, he need not be frustrated. He must keep up hope to meet the good days again. Pains are inevitable for even th wealthiest person of the world. There is no escape from it. It may come from the loss of property or the death of a close relation. It nu come from any kind of failure in life. But this is only a temporary state. One day the misfortune will be over and happy moments wil turn up. Lamenting in a hopeless situation is no solution. Rather lite must have the patience to sustain the sufferings. He will make sincer efforts to overcome the crisis. In due course the critical period will be over to shower happiness on him.