On Magnanimity by C. P. Snow
C.
P. Snow is one of the great thinkers of our time. In his essay “On Magnanimity” he defines the
virtue “Magnanimity” and illustrates it
with so many examples of magnanimous men.
A magnanimous man sees himself and the other person as they really
are. Then he tries to get the best out
of the other person. In doing so, a
person tries to get the best out of himself.
The
author gives the example of Isaac Barrow, the famous English mathematician and
professor at Cambridge in 1663. He
resigned his post in favour of his pupil, Sir Isaac Newton because he saw that
his pupil was a better mathematician than himself. The author says that it is a pleasant
thought to imagine the state of affairs if all the politicians, academics,
administrators, artists and businessmen follow Barrow’s example. It is not only that the older men should give
place to the better young men, but also the young men should give place to the
older, more experienced men.
The author brings other
examples of magnanimity. Sir. Walter
Scott, a famous novelist and poet was a personification of magnanimity. There was no limit to his goodness, and his
attitude towards “enormous triumph and fantastic disaster” was highly
appreciable. According to C. P. Snow, if
a fraction of the world’s intellectuals came anywhere near the goodness of Sir.
Walter Scott, the world would be a better place.
Then the author talks about the
distinguished Russian novelist, Turgenev.
This attitude towards Tolstoy, another famous Russian novelist was
magnanimous. Though Turgenev was ten
years older than Tolstoy, he admitted that Tolstoy was the first novelist not
only of Russia, but of the world. On his
deathbed Turgenev called Tolstoy the “ greatest writer of the Russian
land.“ G. H. Hardy, one of the best –
known pure mathematicians in England is another example of magnanimous
men. He was generous enough to recognize
the natural talents for pure mathematics in Srinivasa Ramanujam, a poor clerk
in Madras and encourage him to come our with his original contributions. He also helped him to get the proper honours,
Fellowship of Trinity, and Fellowship of the Royal society. In his biography, “A Mathematician’s
Apology”, G. H. Hardy mentions that he collaborated with Ramanujam on equal
terms. That was his magnanimous nature.
In conclusion, C. P. Snow says
that all of is should he magnanimous or generous towards one another. One third of the word is rich and two thirds
of it is poor. The rich people have
plenty to eat and don’t die before their time.
The poor don’t get enough to eat.
C. P. Snow says that magnanimity demands caring for such poor people and
seeing that they have enough to eat, using our knowledge in science and
Technology. Though it is not an easy
task, it is the major social task of all time.
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