Accepting criticism — not a sign of weakness
THIS MONTH’S TOPIC: “Accepting criticism is not a sign of weakness, but a mark of the strength of character.” Your take.
Accepting criticism is an art which requires courage, and is a mark of strength. It is a sign of daring and bold people. A person who accepts criticism is really strong as it is not easy to hear us being judged “wrongly”. Making a mistake and admitting it is the strength that some people never master.
Disha Vig (16)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar
Criticism plays an important role in shaping a person’s character. But often criticism is mistaken as a way to put us down as it doesn’t always come in sweet words but also in rebukes. A person who understands the motive behind criticism can improve oneself, and improving oneself is also strengthening one’s character.
Senjuti Saibal Bhattacharya (20)
A C Patil College of Engineering, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai
Any form of art, be it music, poetry, photography, etc., goes into degeneration without criticism. A critic can be anyone, a friend, family, opponent or a professional. If a person takes criticism in the right sense, he has a huge scope for improvement. The next time we receive it, we must take it as a challenge.
Gouri B Indi (21)
KLE’s Lingaraj College, Belagavi
Accepting criticism is not only a mark of the strength of character but also a mirror that shows the truth, raises the hopes of faith and wins the hearts of others. Resistance to accepting criticism deprives one from being considerate to others. Being open to criticism from others is a fundamental requirement of collaborative relationships.
Aditya Raj (13)
New Rainbow Public School, Ghaziabad
People who are sensitive and weak can’t handle a negative feedback or criticism; they would definitely react to it. Taking criticism well is the ability to accept constructive criticism for improvement. Accepting criticism is not just about accepting what people say, it is also the ability to ignore distracting comments and move on towards one’s target.
Divyakriti Masaun
BMSCE, Bangalore
Every cloud has a silver lining; and in the case of criticism, it can be constructive, as well. Instead of drowning under the burden of denunciation, we must put them below our feet and use them as stepping stones to rise above our limits and reach the zenith. Sant Kabir has said that a detractor must always be kept near us because he is like a soap which will help us cleanse our inner self.
Prathmesh Vinod Surjuse (13)
Agragami Convent School, Wardha
It’s natural that we do not like someone pointing out our faults because we believe that “I’m a good person and there can’t be anything wrong about me”.
People usually don’t like going against their beliefs. Medicines can’t be sweet always, but they improve our health. Let’s not reject the bitter medicine of criticism.
Vrutti Adhyaru (24)
Patdi, Gujarat
In our world, today, whatever you do, good or bad, people will always have something negative to say but we should learn to accept those criticisms as a part of our journey through life because in this world no one is perfect. As the great poet Kabir Das said we should always keep our critics near us because they make us aware of our faults and errors. So, instead of taking criticisms as our weakness, we should take them as our strengths. Our value does not decrease because of someone’s inability to see our worth.
Roshina Muankim (15)
Fr Agnel School, Greater Noida
There is a strong correlation between a person’s preference for accepting negative feedback and their level of self-confidence. Confidence usually increases when people improve their skills. Most criticism is intended to help a person improve especially when it is given respectfully. Resisting negative criticism does not make the feedback disappear, nor does it improve our effectiveness.
Rashmo Mehta (14)
St Joseph’s Convent High School, Jethuli, Patna
Criticism should be taken in a constructive way and not in a destructive way. Criticism does not just flag our weak points but also strong ones. By dealing with criticism in a positive way, one can improve in areas that were not even addressed. Positive criticism gives us the power to stand up with confidence.
Namya Malhotra (12)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar
Critics help you to grow by pointing out your mistakes. They unknowingly give you a chance to improve yourself. One’s success to some extent depends on one’s critics rather than advocates. It takes a lot of strength and courage to accept criticism and improve one’s weaknesses and that is what makes someone’s character really strong!
Durva Garg (13)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar
Nobody likes to be criticized. But how you handle it makes all the difference. A critic helps you to be aware of your flaws and imperfections and if we take criticism in a positive way we can improve our personality. Criticism helps us to make our inner self strong, it helps in making one a person brave enough to acknowledge one’s faults and failures and humble enough to accept both compliments and criticism.
Preeti Roy
Fr Agnel School, Greater Noida
In trying to be perfect in the performance of our duties, we commit mistakes. We take wrong steps and make errors of judgment. It is here that we need healthy criticism. By criticising us for our errors and mistakes, the critic actually gives us an opportunity to reform ourselves. As we acknowledge our mistakes, and correct ourselves, our performance improves. Healthy criticism helps us become better human beings, adds strength to our character and personality.
Anamika Singh (15)
St Joseph’s Convent High School, Jethuli, Patna
If you lock yourselves up and become defensive, you’re likely to waste a lot of time feeling bad. I strongly support the given statement. Sometimes we are unable to recognise our erroneous zones, and we tend to repeat them. But if someone criticizes and points out our mistakes, we should be thankful to them and take their feedback as an opportunity to correct ourselves. So accepting criticism is not a sign of weakness, but a mark of strength of character.
Samarth Chawla (15)
St Francis De Sales Sr. Sec. School, Janakpuri, New Delhi