Ambition is the Great Enemy of Peace
English Essay on "Ambition is the Great Enemy of Peace"
Ambition is the Great Enemy of Peace
Ambition is the basic tenet of human nature. Man is by nature a competitive being. He thrives on commotion and excels when pitted against an adversary. The evolution of man is the universal struggle it is the fittest and the strongest who survive, man is constantly at war with the forces that oppose him. His desire to conquer them spurs him into action. “Live and let live has never been practised by man. Consequently there have been wars since the dawn of prehistoric times. History is t record of wars waged by kings and emperors to gratify their ambitions. The efforts of great sages advocating peace, love and universal brotherhood have yielded to results. Man born ambitious, is not concerned about peace and tranquility. It is impossible to curb this basic instinct even for maintaining a semblance of peace.
Man is essentially an ambitious and competitive being. There has been no substantial change in man’s nature during his evolution. He is still a barbarian at heart, ready to kill an other for his own preservation or simply to prove his supremacy over the other, possibly a weaker person. Man may boast of all the technological advancement that has been made in the past centuries as a result of ingenuity, yet the fact remains that they have no made man more secure and wise. His lust for power is as strong ever. Driven by an unbridled ambition, be continues unmindful of the havoc he may cause in the lives of the other less driven souls. It is no longer a struggle for self-preservation, rather it is just an indulgence of hi whims and fancies. His acquisitiveness, pride, ambition and selfishness drive him on in his pursuit of personal gains, this contest is going on among individuals at all times.
If we turn the pages of world history, we will learn that it is nothing but a record of the battles and wars waged by kings and emperors, not for some principles but simply to satisfy their ambitions and lust for supremacy. They do not hesitate to remove any obstacle in their path. But’ continue their onward march without paying the least heed to any consideration of ethics and morality. They feel convinced about their chosen way of reaching their goals. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and in more recent Limes, Hitler, are all men who were driven by their ambition to conquer the world and proclaim themselves as the dictators. Brutus murdered Caesar though their they were friends. He admitted to his country-men that he had slaved Caesar because he was over ambitious, hence a threat to the peace of the country.
In France, Napoleon at the height of his success, riding on the crest of his ambitions, started behaving as a man in frenzy. He set the whole of Europe ablaze, heaped death and destruction all around him to remove the obstacles in the way of his proclaiming himself the emperor. Twentieth century is still recoiling from the war crimes of Hitler and his aides during the Second World War. He believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and wanted to wipe out the Jews from Germany. He tried every trick in the book to torture them and drove many insane.
Peace has always been disturbed all over the world by the lofty plans of the ambitious people. When the demon of ambition overpowers a man, he becomes like a man obsessed. He does not care for the good of others nor for the harm that may befall others as consequences of his ambitions. He goes on wrecking and being wrecked under this powerful sway of ambition caring little for the unhappiness, destruction and despair his selfish desires may cause to men and property.
All the religions have preached love and peace. But these remain utopian ideals, beyond the realm of anybody’s understanding. Lord Buddha advised people to choose the Middle Path if they wanted to be at peace with themselves. Great philosophers and prophets have come on earth from time to time to preach their message of love. Twentieth century saw Quaid-e-Azam who, convinced of the power of love, tolerance and nonviolence, single-handedly led the struggle for the freedom of the nation from oppressive foreign rule. Imagine his agony, when on the eve of independence, the country was divided and he got news of communal killings. He was a disillusioned and broken man. All this efforts for the peaceful means of obtaining one objective that he had spent a life time in preaching to his countrymen had come to nothing. People driven by greed, fear, ambition and lust did not hesitate to kill each other. Horror of partition days are still fresh in the minds of the people who survived them.
International peace also a cherished dream. There can be so peaceful co-existence among nations if they continue t6o exploit other for their own end. The territorial ambitions of the countries are always disturbing the international, peace today making third world war imminent. We live in times when there is perpetual threat of nuclear war which can wipe out any sign of life on the face of this planet in one stroke. All this destruction and disaster merely for the sitisfaction of a handful of mindless, power hungry people is no longer an impossible thing. Ambition, undoubtedly, makes a man leave all reason and compassion. It has always brought ruin and destruction. If we want peace on this planet, we must learn some lessons from history and turn to the wisdom of the wise men down the ages peace. Otherwise there can be no saving the human race from the destructive forces of ambition.
Man is essentially an ambitious and competitive being. There has been no substantial change in man’s nature during his evolution. He is still a barbarian at heart, ready to kill an other for his own preservation or simply to prove his supremacy over the other, possibly a weaker person. Man may boast of all the technological advancement that has been made in the past centuries as a result of ingenuity, yet the fact remains that they have no made man more secure and wise. His lust for power is as strong ever. Driven by an unbridled ambition, be continues unmindful of the havoc he may cause in the lives of the other less driven souls. It is no longer a struggle for self-preservation, rather it is just an indulgence of hi whims and fancies. His acquisitiveness, pride, ambition and selfishness drive him on in his pursuit of personal gains, this contest is going on among individuals at all times.
If we turn the pages of world history, we will learn that it is nothing but a record of the battles and wars waged by kings and emperors, not for some principles but simply to satisfy their ambitions and lust for supremacy. They do not hesitate to remove any obstacle in their path. But’ continue their onward march without paying the least heed to any consideration of ethics and morality. They feel convinced about their chosen way of reaching their goals. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and in more recent Limes, Hitler, are all men who were driven by their ambition to conquer the world and proclaim themselves as the dictators. Brutus murdered Caesar though their they were friends. He admitted to his country-men that he had slaved Caesar because he was over ambitious, hence a threat to the peace of the country.
In France, Napoleon at the height of his success, riding on the crest of his ambitions, started behaving as a man in frenzy. He set the whole of Europe ablaze, heaped death and destruction all around him to remove the obstacles in the way of his proclaiming himself the emperor. Twentieth century is still recoiling from the war crimes of Hitler and his aides during the Second World War. He believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and wanted to wipe out the Jews from Germany. He tried every trick in the book to torture them and drove many insane.
Peace has always been disturbed all over the world by the lofty plans of the ambitious people. When the demon of ambition overpowers a man, he becomes like a man obsessed. He does not care for the good of others nor for the harm that may befall others as consequences of his ambitions. He goes on wrecking and being wrecked under this powerful sway of ambition caring little for the unhappiness, destruction and despair his selfish desires may cause to men and property.
All the religions have preached love and peace. But these remain utopian ideals, beyond the realm of anybody’s understanding. Lord Buddha advised people to choose the Middle Path if they wanted to be at peace with themselves. Great philosophers and prophets have come on earth from time to time to preach their message of love. Twentieth century saw Quaid-e-Azam who, convinced of the power of love, tolerance and nonviolence, single-handedly led the struggle for the freedom of the nation from oppressive foreign rule. Imagine his agony, when on the eve of independence, the country was divided and he got news of communal killings. He was a disillusioned and broken man. All this efforts for the peaceful means of obtaining one objective that he had spent a life time in preaching to his countrymen had come to nothing. People driven by greed, fear, ambition and lust did not hesitate to kill each other. Horror of partition days are still fresh in the minds of the people who survived them.
International peace also a cherished dream. There can be so peaceful co-existence among nations if they continue t6o exploit other for their own end. The territorial ambitions of the countries are always disturbing the international, peace today making third world war imminent. We live in times when there is perpetual threat of nuclear war which can wipe out any sign of life on the face of this planet in one stroke. All this destruction and disaster merely for the sitisfaction of a handful of mindless, power hungry people is no longer an impossible thing. Ambition, undoubtedly, makes a man leave all reason and compassion. It has always brought ruin and destruction. If we want peace on this planet, we must learn some lessons from history and turn to the wisdom of the wise men down the ages peace. Otherwise there can be no saving the human race from the destructive forces of ambition.
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