Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 159
159 Bengalis [for example], some are cowardly and some are brave. Thus, you may conclude from this that qualities continue to shift between races. C haracteristics are not simply inherited but there are also other factors , which advance certain qualities [within people]. I f characteristics were solely inherited, then all branches of a race would have the same attributes. However, the truth of the matter is that some people of a race have one characteristic, and other s do not. This tells that apart from heredity, there are other factors, reasons , and agencies , which create qualities [in a person]. What are these factors , reasons , and sources ? One of the factors is the company you keep. A person develops moral characteristics according to the company t he y keep. A nother factor is education. Again, according to the type of education one receives, a person will shape their morals in accordance to the teaching. Then, another important factor and reason , which affects the character is what the English refer to as ‘ t radition s. ’ When people are instilled with the traditions and qualities of their f athers, and grandfathers, or great grandfathers , they gradually adopt these qualities as their own and it become s part of their character. That is why re ligion has a greater influence on a people as compared with race. The reason for this is that it is not necessary for a lineage to be descended fro m an honorable person. It is possible that some lineage began with a person of disreputable character , and putting his circumstances before you, you cannot come to a favorable opinion about that person. H owever, when a religion is established , it will always be establish ed by a very honorable person. A family and a tribe can be established by a n inconsequential or disreputable person. A cowardly person can produce twelve childr en and after a hundred years they will multiply into twenty thousand people and would consider thems elves to be a separate group. When there are ten , fifteen , twenty , or fifty people who are related, it is called a family. When the number of related people reaches into the hundreds, it becomes a tribe; and when it increases into thousands, it is known as a nation. Thus, a ‘nation’ does not re present anything special. It is merely a name for a group of people who identify with each other and stay together. When a population of people reaches into the thousands, then they begin to see themselves as a separate nation and they appoint themselves a separate name. When one person of this nation encounters another, they embrace each other saying , “Oh, so you are also a member of such and