No Philosophy Can Go On All Fours

 

G. S. Rastogi

 

Through the accumulated wisdom of ages

We look for an ideal, steady like North Star,

Civilizations through the millennium have sought

But the guiding Light remains elusive.

 

Every country, region and nation,

Has its own songs that emerge

Straight from the native genius

But perfection mocks from afar.

 

Buried in every man and woman

Is a ceaseless urge, often intense,

To find out an unfailing principle

But the quest remains an insoluble puzzle.

 

Wise men, saints and thinkers, all

Have delved deep for some magic Rule,

But the Laws they laid down

Have divided mankind, causing much strife.

 

Tossed on a raging sea of life,

Unique situations keep cropping up,

Unique solutions have to be found,

But no formulae can lead us all the way.

 

Let the fact dawn upon us

There exists no philosophy that can

Go on all fours, serve all occasions.

Life is too complex for a single set of rules.

 

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