Lives of great men all remind us, We can also make our lives sublime
Life treats different persons in different ways. Some have risen to great heights and left their footprints on the sand of time. Their lives are examples for the coming generations. Those who are unsuccessful in life; or are discouraged by failures, can take lessons from the lives of these man. This is the lesson that the poet Longfellow wishes to give to the readers in these lines.
History and Biographies give lessons to the curious readers. Man is great not by what he is, but by what he does. History tells us what man has done, thus what man is. The achievements and accomplishments of great men are preserved in the pages of history. Study of history makes us wise. History is not study of dry bones as some people think. The lives of great people inspire us to do great and noble deeds. Islamic history is full of achievements of great heroes, crusaders and Martyrs.
The lives of heroes of Islam inspire as to do brave and noble deeds. Their greatness of character, acts of bravery, burning zeal, examplery courage and victories are great source of encouragement and moral tonic for us who have gone stray.
Study of world history tells us about the brave deeds and achievements of The Greek and Roman heroes. The tales of English Knights, the great Indian epic Mahabharat, infuse new spirit among the impractical readers.
The stories and adventures of great explorers and discovers like Vascodi Gama, Columbus, Livingston and Captain Oatts tell us about the fighting spirit in man. They give lessons in adventures, courage, power of endurance and patience to us. Lord Tennyson has captured their fighting and undefeatable spirit in the famous line
“To strive, the seek, to find and not to yield”.
We can also do something great and noble by following their examples. The lives of great men of science and inventors, the great freedom fighters and victors, the famous men of letters, writers and poets and their achievements and their biographies are just like a beacon light for those who take life non-seriously and easy. They can also earn name and fame by doing something great for the nation and humanity at large.
The lives of all these great men sound the note:
I slept and dreamt life is beauty;
I woke up and found life is a duty
All great things could be achieved by force of personality possessed by the great men of the past. We can conquer the environments. Environments are like a candle and personality is like a match. Our civilization owes great debt to these great personages. Civilization is like a garden and their personality acted as gardeners.
