UPSC Mains 2025 GS4 Q5 — Quotation analysis
Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context? "Those who in trouble untroubled are, Will trouble trouble itself." – Thiruvalluvar (Answer in 150 words)
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- What do each of these quotations convey to you
- Scope keywords
- trouble untroubledtrouble trouble itselfpresent contextgreat thinkers
- Implicit sub-parts
- Interpretation of the core philosophy: Resilience and Equanimity as tools to neutralize adversity.
- The psychological dimension: How remaining 'untroubled' (stoicism) psychologically disarms the source of the 'trouble'.
- Application in modern governance: How an administrator should handle crises (e.g., riots, pandemics) without losing composure.
- Personal ethics: The role of emotional intelligence in maintaining mental health amidst competitive pressure.
- Common pitfalls
- Spending too many words on the biography of Thiruvalluvar rather than the quote's meaning.
- Failing to address the 'present context' by keeping the answer entirely abstract or historical.
- Treating 'trouble' only as external calamities and ignoring internal ethical dilemmas.
- Repeating the quote multiple times as a filler without explaining the 'how' behind 'trouble troubling itself'.
- Dimensions required
- Stoicism and Equanimity (Samatvam)Emotional Intelligence (Self-Regulation)Crisis Management and LeadershipPsychological ResilienceAdministrative Ethics
- Marks allocation hint
Devote the first 30-40 words to explaining the paradoxical logic of the quote (the power of equanimity). Spend the remaining 110 words providing two distinct 'present context' examples—one from a public administrator's perspective handling a crisis and one from a societal/individual perspective—to demonstrate how composure effectively 'exhausts' the problem.
Unlock the full analysis for this question
You've seen the question and its examiner-intent decoding. Subscribers also get:
- 🔗 Similar Previous Year Questions — cross-year, cross-paper matches so you study the topic, not the question
- 📚 Source Map — verified citations from Laxmikanth, NCERT, PRS, Yojana, Economic Survey, Spectrum
- 🌱 How this topic is evolving — current-affairs bridge anchored to live TARS news clustering
- 🧭 Examiner's Pattern — how the topic has been framed across every year UPSC has tested it
- ✍️ Answer Skeleton — a structured outline (intro → body → conclusion) you can flesh out
- 🎯 AI evaluation — write your answer, get rubric-based scoring from gs-eval
Or browse 132+ free preview questions across all years and papers — the first 3 questions of every paper are unlocked.
Ready to practice?
Subscribers can attempt this question in 150 words and get an instant, rubric-based evaluation showing where they stand.
Subscribe to evaluate your answer →