Thinkers & Quotes — UPSC Mains GS Paper 4 PYQ

2025

1. Q3
   Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context? (a) “Those who in trouble untroubled are, Will trouble trouble itself.” – Thiruvalluvar (b) “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” – William James (c) “The strength of a society is not in its laws, but in the morality of its people.” – Swami Vivekananda

   30 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2024

1. Q3
   Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context? (a) “Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it, do not become others.” – Swami Vivekananda (b) “Faith is of no avail in the absence of strength. Faith and strength, both are essential to accomplish any great work.” – Sardar Patel (c) “In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” – Immanuel Kant

   30 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →

2023

1. Q3
   Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context? (a) “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” – Mahatma Gandhi (b) “To awaken the people, it is the women who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves.” – Jawaharlal Nehru (c) “Do not hate anybody, because that hatred that comes out from you must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle.” – Swami Vivekananda

   30 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2022

1. Q3
   What does each of the following quotations mean to you? (a) “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have the right to do and what is right to do.” – Potter Stewart (b) “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel that there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are father, mother and teacher.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (c) “Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.” – Dalai Lama

   30 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2021

1. Q3
   What does each of the following quotations mean to you? (a) “Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.” – Swami Vivekananda (b) “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until and unless we obtain peace within ourselves.” – Dalai Lama (c) “Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, it is better for us all.” – Erik Erikson

   30 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →

2020

1. Q3
   (a) What teachings of Buddha are most relevant today and why? Discuss. (b) ‘The will to power exists, but it can be tamed and be guided by rationality and principles of moral duty.’ Examine this statement in the context of international relations.

   20 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
2. Q6
   What do each of the following quotations mean to you? (a) “Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If not, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.” — Swami Vivekanand (b) “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Mahatma Gandhi (c) “A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.” — Socrates

   30 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2019

1. Q6
   What do each of the following quotations mean to you? (a) “An unexamined life is not worth living”. — Socrates (10 marks, 150 words) (b) “A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” — M. K. Gandhi (10 marks, 150 words) (c) “Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world.” — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (10 marks, 150 words)

   30 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2018

1. Q6
   What do each of the following quotations mean to you in the present context? (a) “The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether it has any evil in it; but whether it has more evil than good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. Almost every thing, especially of governmental policy, is an inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded.” – Abraham Lincoln (10 marks, 150 words) (b) “Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.” – Mahatma Gandhi (10 marks, 150 words) (c) “Falsehood takes the place of truth when it results in unblemished common good.” – Tirukkural (10 marks, 150 words)

   30 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2017

1. Q5
   (a) “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.” – Napoleon Bonaparte. Stating examples mention the rulers (i) who have harmed society and country, (ii) who worked for the development of society and country. (10 marks, 150 words) (b) “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Analyse. (10 marks, 150 words)

   20 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →

2015

1. Q2
   Given are two quotations of moral thinkers/philosophers. For each of these, bring out what it means to you in the present context: (a) “The weak can never forgive; forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” (b) “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

   20 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →

2014

1. Q3
   (a) “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, but knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” What do you understand by this statement? Explain your stand with illustrations from the modern context. (b) “Human beings should always be treated as ‘ends’ in themselves and never as merely ‘means’.” Explain the meaning and significance of this statement, giving its implications in the modern techno-economic society.

   20 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →

2013

1. Q6
   Given below are three quotations of great moral thinkers/philosophers. For each of these quotations, bring out what it means to you in the present context: (a) “There is enough on this earth for every one’s need but for no one’s greed.” — Mahatma Gandhi (b) “Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” — Abraham Lincoln (c) “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.” — Aristotle

   30 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →