September 5 is celebrated as Teachers’ Day in India, a day dedicated to recognizing the profound influence that teachers have on the lives of students. It commemorates the birth of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India’s second President, first Vice President, and an extraordinary scholar, philosopher, and teacher. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize 27 times, highlighting his global impact as both an educator and a statesman.
In 1962, when students wished to celebrate his birthday, Dr. Radhakrishnan humbly suggested that the day be dedicated to honoring all teachers in India. His vision was to highlight the critical role teachers play in shaping young minds and contributing to nation-building.
Dr. Radhakrishnan’s legacy continues to remind us of the importance of education and the vital contributions teachers make to society.
Motivational Messages from Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to Celebrate Teachers’ Day
- Knowledge gives us power, and love gives us fullness.
- God lives, feels, and suffers in every one of us, and in the course of time, His attributes, knowledge, beauty, and love will be revealed in each of us.
- Books are the means by which we build bridges between cultures.
- The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves.
- Tolerance is the homage which the finite mind pays to the inexhaustibility of the infinite.
- True religion is a revolutionary force: it is an inveterate enemy of oppression, privilege, and injustice.
- Discontent with the actual is the necessary precondition of every moral change and spiritual rebirth.
- A literary genius, it is said, resembles all, though no one resembles him.
- A life of joy and happiness is possible only on the basis of knowledge and science.
- When we think we know we cease to learn.
