Essay on My Likes and Dislikes

Essay on My Likes and Dislikes:

Everybody has his own likes and dislikes. A Lord Byron likes wine though Shri Morarji shuns it. A Gandhi loves truth and non-violence, while a Churchill believes in lies and violence. One likes to be a saint, another wants to be a rogue. These likes and dislikes differ from man to man depending upon his taste, temperament, environment, resources and circumstances.

Well, I have my own likes and dislikes which may or may not appeal to others. I like many things but in varying degrees. I like my home, my school, my city, books, my pets, my wristwatch and above all my parents who do so much good to me and provide me everything I need, just for the asking. They give me a liberal pocket allowance and do not fail to give me sound advice now and then.

I like to lead an outdoor life. Excursions and picnics are dear to me. Every alternative Sunday I arrange to some excursion and persuade my friends and class-fellows to accompany me. We visit various parks, gardens, the canal head and the riversides. We like to take bath in the cold water of the canal and the river.

I like the company of sincere friends who stand by me through thick and thin. The fair-weather friends often leave you in the lurch. So I avoid their company. My best friend is Aditi, the daughter of a local doctor. She is young and beautiful, honest and straightforward, simple and God-fearing. She is very kind and helpful to everybody. She proves the proverb, “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. She often helps me in my studies.

Again, I like morality and temperance. I believe in simple living and high thinking. I like goodness and virtue without which life cannot be happy.

I like arts such as painting. music, dancing, poetry and drama. I am a great lover of beauty and I can appreciate the beauties of art and nature. Keats, the famous poet was right when he said, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”. I love snow-clad mountains, bubbling streams, freshwater lakes and springs, the setting sun and the golden coloured clouds, the thick jungles and in fact, everything that is beautiful in Nature. I also like everything that is good in life, literature and art.

The above list of my likes does not mean that I only like things and do not dislike anything. My dislikes, on the other hand, are as strong as my likes.

I dislike narrow nationalism. Some people are half patriots. They say, “My country, right and wrong”. This sort of patriotism is condemned by Dr Johnson who says, “Patriotism is the last resort of scoundrel”. Pakistan’s attitude of enmity towards India is the result of this narrow nationalism. We may love our country but we should not hate other countries. We should look upon all people of the world as our own brethren.

Needless to say, I dislike all things which are bad. I dislike greed and hypocrisy. Greediness is a curse. A greedy person is often heartless. Being selfish he has no sympathy with others in their pain and distress. He does not care for his friends, relatives or his family. Sometimes nations too, become greedy and selfish. They want to flourish at the cost of others.

We know that the two World Wars were fought because Germany had become overgreedy. As said above, I also hate hypocrisy, i.e., false show and pretension. Some rogues want to pass for saints. I dislike them.

Another thing that I dislike most is ignorance and illiteracy. An ignorant and illiterate man is like a blind man.

Ignorance is a blot on humanity, a curse on society and a threat to civilization. Ignorance means want of knowledge. An illiterate person is often ignorant. There is no difference between animals and ignorant persons. More often than not such persons become superstitious, narrow-minded and selfish.

Lastly, I like hard but profitable work with ample leisure or spare time. But it does not mean that I want to become a Lotos Eater who passes his time in idleness. What I like is profitable work with plenty of leisure. If there is all work and no leisure, life would become dull and boring indeed. W.H. Davis has well said-