Essay on Knowledge Demands Love as its Compliment
Sample essay on how knowledge can be experienced, it can be gained, and what it means to be a knowledgeable person.
Essay on Knowledge demand Love as its Compliment
Knowledge is a key to the darkness of ignorance. Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone, or something, such as facts information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience, or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning. Due to the light of knowledge, the world ushered an era of discoveries resulting in series of invention that changed human race.
With the enhancement of knowledge, people have many more options in professional, and personal lives. It allows the freedom to express the thoughts, and be aware of the rights, and duties as individuals. A knowledgeable man does not bear unjust behavior from anyone, and does whatever makes him, or her happy. Unlike the physical entities, knowledge never deteriorates. It builds on the existing information base. Your car might break down, or money could run down due to hyperinflation but the understanding of mind remains intact, and increases with enhanced social interaction.
Importance of knowledge cannot be denied, but the question that arises here is, how to acquire KNOWLEDGE? Education can be acquired through institutions but knowledge is earned through LOVE, and dedication. To acquire knowledge, one has to be passionate about it. As it is said by Bertrand Russel, “The good life is one inspired by love, and guided by knowledge”; love here means passion- a prerequisite for a successful life. We have to work hard, with dedication, and passion in order to gain knowledge. Knowledge cannot be attained without love, and passion for it. No doubt, struggle, and passion are the laws of life, both in the world of nature as well as man. Some people do not take life seriously. They do not try to understand its meaning, and purpose. But life is not to play, to dream, and to drift away. We are not to waste its precious moments. It is a bed of thorns, and we have to struggle to convert it into bed of roses, we have to learn how to grow a flower out of weeds.
“Love is inseparable from knowledge.” (St Makarios of Eygpt). We are shaped, and fashioned by what we love. We are born to love. It is the law of our being, the living principle that carries men forward. All that is great in a man comes from love, hard work, passion, dedication, devotion, and knowledge. What is the secret behind all the successful, and famous people in the world? People that have risen on highest ranks are those who worked hard to achieve what they loved. There are various examples in this world of people with highest grades, and exceptional academic results working for the ones who were thrown out of their colleges because they were disinterested in studies. Those people might have acquired education from best institutes but they failed to inspire themselves to gain real knowledge. We fail to attain our goals because we do not love what we study at educational institutions. We may get a degree but remain ignorant in the ways of life since our knowledge is restricted to cramming books to get good grades in exams.
Many famous, well known personalities like Steve Jobs owner of Apple INC, Bill Gates founder of Microsoft Corporation is, who instead of getting degrees concentrated on acquiring knowledge. They turned out to be the biggest names of this world because of their love for knowledge. They struggled, and worked hard for the love of acquiring knowledge, and then disseminating it to others.
Another aspect which must be highlighted here is the kind of knowledge that should be gained. In the 21st century we highly depend upon the ever-developing technology, we use internet as a medium of knowledge, and information but whether it is useful, or not is debatable. There are positive aspects as well as negative what we are learning through social media is making us idle, lazy, and less hardworking. The knowledge, and information that we get through internet is quite vast but presented through particular perspectives given on twitter, face book, and the like. Proper guidance, and reading books, and journals of quality can enhance the understanding of the affairs of the world. It will also help in forming critical thinking which is essential for gaining knowledge.
This means that love, or passion alone is not sufficient to attain fruitful knowledge, we need to learn to use our common sense for the comprehensive understanding of the world around. Hard work is the key to happiness. It sweetens life as poet says,
“Absence of occupation is not rest
A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.”
This again emphasizes on getting knowledge through love, or passion. Islam our religion has laid great emphasis on knowledge; It is our religious obligation to acquire knowledge, to work hard not to waste our precious life idly.
Our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W) said,
“Whoever follows a path in the pursuit of knowledge, Allah will make a path to Jannah easy for him.” Islam is also based on knowledge, and Quran is the best source to attain knowledge. In order to get closer to Allah we must learn to get knowledge. We must enlighten ourselves with the productive knowledge; it will bring good to us in this world, and the world hereafter.
Allah swt says in the Quran,
“Allah will rise up those of you who have emaan, and those of you who have knowledge, in ranls, and Allah is fully aware of what you do.”(Al- Quran)
Knowledge brings, and insight into the reality of our existence, and shows us our weaknesses, and limitations. We try to overcome those weaknesses, and learn to accept the limitations in others as well. This inculcates a sense of goodness, and humanity. A loving heart therefore, is the gateway to all knowledge. Love for knowledge is a support, and consolation for a sorrowful life, and an antidote to despair. It is certainly the noblest thing in the world.
This life is not to be trifled, and to be wasted. Its noblest blessing is the love to acquire knowledge. We cannot afford to waste life in idle sloth, or in pursuit of useless pleasures. It is therefore, by knowledge alone, and by our hard work that we can hope to leave the world a better place than we found it at our birth. This world is full of vanity, trickery, deceit, lying, dishonesty, evil manners, and vices in different forms, and shapes that need to be fought against. We have to end all injustices, and evils to make this world worth living. This can only be achieved through knowledge that demands love as its compliment.
