Essay Topic: United We Stand Divided We Fall
Since childhood, we have been listening to the phrase “United We stand, divided we fall”. But how well do we know its real meaning, history and significance? This is a life-changing phrase for human beings. The golden value that this proverb holds is of immense historical and ethical importance.
The phrase traces its roots to history. It is mentioned in the Christian Bible in the New Testament section. The famous fabulist and storyteller of Greek named Aesop also mention his popular phrase in his ancient stories. The founding father of the United States of America, John Dickinson, coined this phrase to evoke the spirit of nationalism among the American citizens during the civil war. The American attorney, orator, political, Patrick Henry also used the ‘United We Stand’ phrase in his public speech to warn people against the factional divide.
The army indulged in the American Civil War choose this specific slogan as a war cry. The labour unions organised themselves based on this particular phrase. The grand allied nations, namely, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union formed a powerful alliance or corporation that resulted in their success. This old phrase is used by countries to maintain healthy, peaceful and friendly bilateral relations. In 1978, a song named ‘Liberty song’ was written in line with the phrase. The bishop of Abraham Lincoln, Robert Grosseteste mention this phrase.
The real motto or meaning of the phrase, United We Stand, Divided We Fall is to believe in the strength of unity. It encourages us to keep solidarity and faith in the togetherness of the community. We must forget the greedy concept of ‘I, me and myself’. It teaches us the value or power of being a single unit. The phrases focus on the core elements of collectivism. It strongly emphasis on group or social cohesion.
The believers of the ‘United We Stand’ theory, believes in prioritising the group instead of the individual self. They don’t give importance to minor topics such as caste, creed, race, sex, nationality and place of birth. They don’t distinguish. They try to find similarities, common values and goals. This motto taught us how to behave as a team.
The phrase tries to develop an optimistic attitude in human being who are trapped in virtues of greed, selfishness, evilness, self-indulgence, self-interest, materialism and profiteering. It is an ideal phrase to be applied for any setting such as workplace, political organization, family, group of friends, or a sports team. Whatever be the case, whatever the situation is, unity is always stronger than division. It is a very practical phrase that we experience in our daily lives
Let’s us understand the phrase with the help of an example based on a recent word situation. As we all know, the whole world got hit by the deadly Coronavirus in 2019. It’s been more than a year since the virus is consuming lives, money and recourses. All the nations are helping each other. They aren’t working in isolation. Especially poor countries need the most support as they have already wasted their resources. The world is surviving on the phrase, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”. World Health Organization is providing research data, health awareness guidelines, virus-related news to inform and help other countries. Developed countries are helping to develop and under-developed countries by providing them with vaccines, PPE kits, testing kits, oxygen cylinders, medical equipment and other medicines. We are working as one unit, and not as Indians, American, or Italians. We are helping each other as humans.
The spirit of solidarity is highlighted through this proverb. In turn, unity leads to peace and harmony. If people believe that their purposes are the same, then why will they fight for petty issues. Hence, peace will prevail on Earth forever. There will be no need for deadly war weapons, nuclear missiles, or weapons of mass destruction. Unity adds synchronisation between the people. It improves their personalities. In light of this famous proverb, humans must behave in a friendly, cheerful and dignified way.
No single individual can perform the task of a group. A united group will always perform the task faster, efficiently and effectively. The best nature of humanity is solidarity. Mahatma Gandhi is an ideal model who taught us the spirit of unity. Unity helps in achieving a particular goal more easily. In a diversified country like India, unity plays a major role in integrating the Indians. Unity has resulted in the development of nations worldwide. Everyone must possess the component of togetherness.
