Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The intrinsic value in a person


Post 9 A rose is a rose by any other name

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright. He was widely deemed to be the greatest writer in the English language. When Shakespeare wrote the line ‘A rose is a rose by any other name’ in Romeo and Juliet, he was implying that no matter what anything is called, it still remains what it is. Thus a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. The intrinsic value of a rose is its fragrance and bright colour. This might have inspired Juliet to say, “What’s in a name?”

What matters is therefore what you are and not what you are called. One can be as sweet as a rose when one is a real person. Mengzi (or Mencius), a famous Chinese philosopher, said that anyone who has the following three traits is a real man:

Neither riches nor honours can lead one to be licentious;

Neither poverty nor want can lead one to be submissive; and

Neither threat nor force can lead one to be subdued.

The wisdom here is that a person ought to have self-control, hold on to integrity, and be determined. Hence, one may be called by any other name, yet one’s strength of character remains to be one’s hallmark.

1 September 2009


4 comments:

  1. I appreciate your continuous support to this blog. Thank you once again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm still Jeans, trying my best to hold tight on my integrity.hehe^^

    ReplyDelete
  3. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose
    By any other name would smell as sweet."

    ReplyDelete