Many great individuals have passed through history—people whose legacy may be remembered as long as the world exists.
But do you know this:
What is the identity of people who leave a long-lasting impact?
What are those principles and habits that they follow which make them so admirable that the world envies them?
In this post, I’ll list those qualities and values. Read each one carefully and reflect on yourself to understand which one of it you have and whether you’re moving in the right direction.
- Respecting Their Own Culture and Values
Great people wear their traditions, culture, language, and morals like a crown on their heads.
They don’t care what city they are in, who they are among, or where they are. That’s why such people can be recognized even in a crowd of thousands.
Loving your own culture doesn’t mean looking down on people from other backgrounds or religions.
The first principle of love is to respect. Respect for everyone — but clothing, style, and identity should reflect one’s own culture so that no matter where they go in the world, people can identify them.
They respect everyone’s job — whether it’s a painter, plumber, waiter, electrician, mechanic, driver, maintenance worker, or architect. They understand how important each person’s contribution is to the peace and prosperity of society. It is the collective efforts of all that put food on our tables.
- Defensive (Wise) Approach in Everything
The true dignity and grandeur of a nation are not shown through words, but through action.
Truly responsible people are not aggressive or hot-tempered. Their emotions and anger don’t overpower their intellect.
They don’t use cheap tricks to trouble others. Instead, they possess broad-mindedness and solid thinking.
Can you imagine a person who has full strength and power to take revenge, yet still chooses forgiveness? How deeply rooted must their moral values be!
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) forgiving the disbelievers despite having full power to take revenge.
Nelson Mandela, who after being released in 1990, instead of taking revenge on the people who imprisoned and oppressed him, he forgave them. As South Africa’s first Black president (1994), he invited his former enemies to the table of peace and unity.
- Who They Choose to Follow
What you watch, what you read, what you think about — these all reveal a lot about who you are.
Nations that read historians, listen to intellectuals, and connect with knowledge and sciences, they produce scholars and wise leaders.
Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.
But the nations that promote meaningless trends, live in luxury, and make famous those people who destroy their moral values — such nations might produce cheap entertainment that pleases the eyes and ears for a while, but not thinkers whose words future generations would study.
The key point is conscious people are aware of the problems of the society they live in.
They know the problem statement. And to solve a problem, you must first know what the problem is.
And those who are more sincere and good, they go one step further — they try to find solutions to the problems.
That’s why we study people like Einstein, Faraday, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa.
But the careless, unaware people remain only concerned about their own problems.
They don’t know what the real problems of society are or what they should be doing.
Another way to understand this:
Imagine two kids are in a room. One of them goes outside, sees a snake, and comes back to warn the other not to go outside until they find a solution.
The kid who went outside is obviously more aware than the one who stayed inside.
Dear Readers, The point here which you must understand is:
People who are more aware can find solutions before the problem becomes dangerous.
They can prevent harm, save lives, control damage, and offer real help.
Example: When British traders were secretly selling opium in China, most people ignored it. But Lin Zexu, a smart Chinese official, saw how dangerous it was.
He studied the issue, warned the emperor, and banned opium before the crisis got worse. He even destroyed over 1,000 tons of opium publicly.
True intelligence is when you stop the fire before it starts.
- Those Who Stand Against What’s Wrong
A selfish person only cares about what affects him. He’ll only raise his voice if something disturbs him personally.
But the truly noble people care about what’s poisoning society and what they can do to fix it.
Protests and boycotts are movements started by common people. This is what alive, aware people do — those who care.
But living corpses live in their own world without caring about anything or anyone — until the fire reaches their own home.
