It is easy to describe success in terms of money, fame and reputation. But I believe that success is not external. I believe that success comes from within. My definition of success is to be true to yourself, and be true to others. That means, that you must cherish your personal ideal even in the face of adversity. I also believe that success is not discriminatory. Success is not restricted to such a class of people, in fact, it may be achieved by any person irrespective of his race, creed, gender and economic background. A good example of success is that of Beethoven. He is one of the world's most famous composers, yet he was deaf. He could not hear the majestic pieces of music that he created. Yet, in the face of this adversity, he was able to maintain his ideals''that of composing music.
To exemplify what success means to me, I pose a question to all of you. What brings us together here today? I believe that it is the beauty of the spoken word. The effect of pause and the sound of rhetoric are unique to the spoken word. I believe the beauty of the spoken word is even stronger for those who have difficulty in expressing themselves. These people are reclusive and had their emotions hidden within them. I once went to Australia and I saw two pictures, Once was drawn by a normal child, the other was drawn by a child with social inhibitions. The picture drawn by the normal child was simple and plain. The other was life'like, full of details and imagination. What this shows is that these are ideas, emotions and feelings that are locked internally in these children.
My ideal is to be the key, spreading the beauty of the spoken words to these children. These children have been neglected, but I feel that I can and should help these children to find themselves and be able to express themselves.
I realize that this is a difficult task, and there are many obstacles on the way. But I believe in my ideals and I will stick to them''even in the face of adversity. We should never have a premature abortion of ideals'let the child, let our ideals, stand the challenge. For a life without ideals is not living.
