Insisting on Goodness

Life is like a flowing river. Each person charts their own path within this current. Yet what matters on this journey is what we hold onto and the values we insist upon. Goodness is the most powerful value that gives meaning to human existence, nourishes the soul, and enriches life. This is why we must insist on goodness. For goodness allows harmony within oneself and with the world. Just as a seed takes root in the soil, those who cling to goodness deepen and flourish in life.

However, insisting on anything other than goodness is often a futile effort. When one persists in flawed thinking, misguided attitudes, or selfish desires, they only block their own path. Wisdom lies in knowing what to pursue and what to relinquish. Ignorance, however, is not merely a lack of knowledge. True ignorance is the inability to use knowledge, to evaluate it rightly, and to lose oneself in inner confusion.

An ignorant person traps knowledge in the shadow of their fears, pride, and selfishness, rather than seeing it as a light. Even if they possess knowledge, they misuse it in the wrong places and ways. They drown in anxieties, succumb to delusions, and strive to justify themselves. In the end, they become someone who, despite having knowledge, cannot reach it—seeing yet blind, knowing yet uncomprehending.

True wisdom, however, arises when one opens both their mind and heart. As humans embrace goodness and justice, and transform knowledge into benefit, their souls expand. The true challenge is not to possess knowledge, but to use it at the right time, in the right place, and with the right intent.

This is why we must insist most fervently on goodness in life. For insisting on goodness brings abundance; it illuminates the inner world and smoothens one’s path. When claiming knowledge, we must not imprison it in pride, fear, or selfishness. Instead, we must share it, nurture it, and turn it into benefit. Only then does knowledge truly become wisdom, guiding us in the right direction within life’s flow.

Yusuf Beğtaş