Teachers’ Day 2022: Inspirational Quotes By Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an Indian philosopher, educationist, and politician. He was the second President of India, and famous for his contribution to comparative religion, comparative Eastern and Western systems of philosophy, education, according to S Radhakrishnan, was about acquiring knowledge beyond the academic and professional periphery. He proclaimed that education should not be bookish or about memorizing of facts and figures unrelated to life.

Born on 5 September 1888. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second and the erstwhile President of India, and the first vice president with his teaching background arrived on the scene just when India needed fresh and novel perspectives on education to move forward. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan added a large volume of contributions as a teacher, philosopher, and scholar.

Dr Radhakrishnan was born into a Telugu household in Tiruttani town. An ace student who received a series of scholarships throughout his academic life, he studied at Tirupati and Vellore schools. Dr Radhakrishnan studied philosophy at the Christian College, Madras. He is held in high regard as the greatest philosopher that Indian history saw to date. Acknowledged as Professor of Philosophy at Madras Presidency College, he subsequently moved on to the position of Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore.

In 1962, he was appointed President of India and served till 1967. He wrote several notable books, including Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore, Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy, The Hindu View of Life, An Idealist View of Life, Kalki or the Future of Civilisation, The Religion We Need, Gautama the Buddha, India and China, and several others.

Here are some of his invaluable and inspiring thoughts by Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on all fronts of life that will keep you motivated:

1. 'Tolerance is the homage, which the finite mind pays to the inexhaustibility of the infinite.'

2. 'Knowledge gives us power; love gives us the fullness.'

3. 'When we think we know we cease to learn.'

4. 'Books are the means by which we build bridges between cultures.'

5. 'The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves.'

6. 'God lives, feels, and suffers in every one of us, and in course of time. His attributes, knowledge, beauty and love will be revealed in each of us.'

7. 'True religion is a revolutionary force: it is an inveterate enemy of oppression, privilege, and injustice.'

8. 'Religion is behaviour and not mere belief.'

9. 'A life of joy and happiness is possible only on the basis of knowledge and science.'

10. 'The end-product of education should be a free creative man, who can battle against historical circumstances and adversities of nature.'

11. 'Teachers should be the best mind in the country.'

12. 'The ultimate self is free from sin, free from old age, free from death and grief, free from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing and imagines nothing.'

13. 'Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that can not be defined but is only to be experienced. Evil and error are not ultimate. There is no Hell, for that means there is a place where God is not, and there are sins which exceed his love.'

14. When we think we know we cease to learn.'

15. 'The worst sinner has a future, even as the greatest saint has had a past. No one is so good or bad as he imagines.'

16. 'The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves.'

17. 'The word Atman (Soul) means the 'breath of life'. Atman is the principle of man's life, the Soul that pervades his being, his breath, his intellect and transcends them. Atman is what remains when everything that is not the self is eliminated. It is the unborn and immortal element in man, which is not to be confused with body, mind or intellect.'

18. 'The self (Soul) is the constant-witness consciousness. Through all months, seasons and years, through all divisions of time, the past, present and future the consciousness remains one and self luminous. It neither rises nor sets. The ultimate self is free from sin, free from old age, free from death and grief, free from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing and imagines nothing.'

19. 'Into the bosom of the one great sea flow streams that comes from the hills on every side, their names are various as their springs. And thus in every land do men bow down to one great God, though known by many names.'

20. 'It is not God that is worshipped but the group or authority that claims to speak in His name. Sin becomes disobedience to authority not a violation of integrity.'

21. 'Man is a paradoxical being-the constant glory and scandal of this world.'

22. 'Love thy neighbour as thyself because you are your neighbour. It is illusion that makes you think that your neighbour is someone other than yourself.'

23. 'God is the Soul of all souls - The Supreme Soul - The Supreme Consciousness.'

24. 'Just as the Atman (Soul) is the reality underlying the conscious powers of an individual, so the Supreme Soul (God) is the eternal quiet underneath the drive and activity of the universe.'

25. 'It is the intense spirituality of India, and not any great political structure or social organisation that it has developed, that has enabled it to resist the ravages of time and the accidents of history.'