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
Approach · directive: “what”
What it asks · Interpret each quotation and apply it to public and personal life.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- (a) Interpret Potter Stewart's quotation on the difference between what one has the right to do and what is right to do, and say what it means to you
- (b) Interpret A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's quotation on father, mother and teacher as the three societal members who can build a corruption-free nation of beautiful minds, and say what it means to you
- (c) Interpret the Dalai Lama's quotation on judging success by what one had to give up to get it, and say what it means to you
Open with · Each quotation compresses a test of character: doing what is right, not merely what is allowed; who shapes honesty in a nation; and what one gives up for success.
Cover
- (a) Law tells what one may do; ethics asks what one should do, so conscience goes beyond compliance, for example an officer legally free to favour a contractor but ethically bound not to.
- (a) Application: conflict of interest, use of discretion, and the gap between legality and legitimacy in policy.
- (b) Values begin at home and school: parents give the first lessons, teachers model integrity and society reinforces them; laws alone cannot change hearts.
- (b) Application: value education, role models and honesty rewarded in institutions, alongside strong anti-corruption systems.
- (c) Success is measured by the values and relationships preserved, not only by the goal reached; ill-gotten success carries hidden costs.
- (c) Application: a civil servant declining a tempting but improper gain; some sacrifices of comfort or popularity are worth making for a just cause.
Close with · Conscience above legality, character above enforcement, means above ends; values taught at home and school reduce the need for laws.
Add value (verified)
- RTI Act, 2005, Section 8(2): even where an exemption applies, a public authority may allow access to information if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests. Right to Information Act, 2005, Section 8 — DoPT RTI portal ↗“(2) Notwithstanding anything in the Official Secrets Act, 1923 nor any of the exemptions permissible in accordance with sub-section (1), a public authority may allow access to information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests.”
- Article 51A(k) of the Constitution makes it a fundamental duty of a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to a child aged six to fourteen. Constitution of India, Article 51A(k) — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice ↗“(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.”
- National Education Policy 2020: education must build character and make learners ethical, rational, compassionate and caring. National Education Policy 2020 — Ministry of Education (PIB-hosted PDF) ↗“Education must build character, enable learners to be ethical, rational, compassionate, and caring, while at the same time prepare them for gainful, fulfilling employment.”
- The Central Information Commission (2015) recalled Satyendra Dubey, killed in 2003 for blowing the whistle on corruption in NHAI's Golden Quadrilateral project; his killing was among the incidents behind the civil-society demand for the whistle-blower law. Central Information Commission, Avinash Kumar v. Aruna Asaf Ali Government Hospital, GNCTD, 6 August 2015 — Indian Kanoon ↗“This Act is made due to demand by civil society after several incidents of threat or harassment to whistle blowers such as Satyendra Dubey, who was killed in 2003, for blowing whistle in a corruption case in the National Highway Authority of India's Golden Quadrilateral Project.”
- Kant's Humanity Formula of the categorical imperative: treat humanity, in oneself or in others, never as a means only but always as an end in itself. Kant's Moral Philosophy — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“This formulation states that we should never act in such a way that we treat humanity, whether in ourselves or in others, as a means only but always as an end in itself.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 455 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Each quotation tests character from a different side: what I should do when the law permits, who first teaches honesty, and what my success has cost.
(a) The right to do versus the right thing — Potter Stewart
- Meaning: law marks the outer boundary of permitted action; ethics works inside it. Much that is legal is not right: a cruel but lawful eviction, a tax loophole, a permitted but unfair use of discretion.
- The law itself leaves room: under Section 8(2) of the RTI Act, 2005, an authority may disclose even exempt information "if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests". Refusing is a right; weighing the public interest is what is right.
- Illustration: a department may transfer an officer anywhere, but transferring an honest officer to punish him is wrong.
- To me: legality is the floor of conduct, not its ceiling. Integrity lives in the gap between what is legal and what is legitimate.
(b) Father, mother and teacher — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
- Meaning: corruption is a habit of mind before it is a crime, and the mind forms early. Parents give the first lessons in honesty; teachers model integrity and curiosity.
- Prevention over detection: laws and audits catch corruption after it happens; character prevents it. A child who watches a parent pay a bribe learns that rules are for others.
- Policy agrees: Article 51A(k) makes a parent's duty to provide opportunities for education to a child of six to fourteen a fundamental duty; NEP 2020 wants education to "build character" and make learners "ethical, rational, compassionate, and caring".
- To me: value education begins at home and in class. A family that refuses dowry, or a teacher who fails a cheating student, teaches more than any lecture.
(c) Success measured by its price — Dalai Lama
- Meaning: achievement is measured by what was surrendered for it. Success bought with honesty, health or peace of mind is a loss disguised as a gain.
- Renunciation: Siddhartha left the comfort of the palace in search of truth; what he gave up is why the Buddha's success endures.
- Moral courage: Satyendra Dubey was killed in 2003 for blowing the whistle on corruption in NHAI's Golden Quadrilateral project. He lost his life, not his integrity, and his killing fed the civil-society demand for a whistle-blower protection law.
- To me: before pursuing a goal, I should ask what I must give up for it. Means matter as much as ends; Kant warns against treating anyone "as a means only".
Together the three set an order of priority: conscience above legality, character above enforcement, and means above ends. A society that teaches this at home and in school will need fewer laws to stay honest.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.