Al-Risala (English), May-June 2001

bigger man to walk away from a fight than it does to stay and fight.’” What is meant hereby ‘bigger’? In this context it has nothing to do with being taller or stronger, but signifies greater-hearted, broader-minded, and more able than a ‘smaller man’ to sustain injury or insult without losing one’s composure. One’s ‘bigness’ here has to do not with physical hardihood, but with moral courage. □ No Half Measures A noted Western writer once, after studying the lives of great men, attempted to pinpoint the special qualities that were common to all of them. He came to the conclusion that all of the men he had studied had been filled with curiosity and discontent. Curiosity had kept them in hot pursuit of things, ideas and ideals which had at first eluded them, and discontent had never allowed them to indulge in the thought that they had reached the final peak of achievement. These qualities had proved to be the mainspring of their inspiration. A similar comment is made by Mrs. Anita Straket, a mathematics adviser from Wiltshire, in a 108-page educational report she had compiled for the school’s council. Evaluating certain traits in talented children, she says, “Pupils who are impatient with anything that is second best are probably gifted.” (The Hindustan Times, 2 February, 1983) A demanding temperament of this kind compels one to go on seeking absolute truth. It prevents one from being content with half-truths and paltry successes, and one is continually