The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and a thousand other things well Hugh Walpole - Thesis Example

Download file to see previous pages... While there are many such people in the market, only few of them succeed. Google set a new milestone in online searching, Microsoft paved the way for home computing and the Body shop by Anita Roddick succeeded only because it focused on eco-friendly beauty products. History speaks volumes about the above quoted words too. Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor and businessman succeeded in giving the world the light bulb only because he was interested in one thing profoundly. He was keen on experimenting and continued to do it with great passion. Records stated that when Edison failed for a thousand times, he did not say he failed. He said that he knew of a thousand ways not to make a light bulb. Had it not been profound interest for one thing, Edison would have given up his experiments and considered his life a failure. We would not have benefited so soon from a light bulb and would not have remembered him with the great reverence that we do today. Even great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi could help India gain freedom only through constant interest in working towards it. Had these men been diverted with various interests, they would never have been able to put their heart and mind into huge successes. The quoted words hold good in our personal lives too. Success is achieved when one does not spread oneself too thin, staying focused on work helps accomplish it and the secret of living life to the fullest and to the happiest comes only from being the king of one's empire.

Antithesis
While the above statements portray the goodness in Hugh Walpole's statements, the same is not always true. In today's changing times, where there is throat cutting competition and one has to be ahead of the other in the mad race of life, statements like the one made by Hugh Walpole have their own shortcomings. If we were to be profoundly interested in one thing with a general interest in other things we would not get ahead in life. If a businessman, for example, just takes deep passion for selling cell phones, he would do well. However in order to succeed, he would need to take an equal interest in understanding the needs of the market (business researching), new product launches (technology), caring for employees (organizational behavior), caring for customers etc. Unless all these aspects are not looked after, with equal interest and enthusiasm, the organization and the businessman are doomed to lesser degree of success. Thus while the above examples of Google, Microsoft and the Body shop did take into consideration their core areas, they gave equal importance to a million other issues. That is also the reason all large organizations have different departments (like HR, research, marketing, product development, customer care) and equal importance is given to all of them. History also leads us to believe this to be true. Thomas Alva Edison could give the world great inventions because he had profound interest in one thing. But let us not forget that even during his times, when there was not much competitiveness, he had profound interest in business too, which led him to form the General Electric. Had he not been able to let the world know of his inventions and market them through the organization, it would have possible that someone else would have taken the credit for ...Download file to see next pagesRead More