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endymionUID: 2119077

36"The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries." 36． 只有后来人评价以前的人，而不应该同时代的人相互评价
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The title statement is a much debated one in the nowaday society. Although the importance of the current evaluation on our contemporaries can not be neglected, I would agree with the speaker, as far as I am concerned, that the greatness of individuals can be decided mainly by those who live after them and my reasons are rendered below.

The basic reason why I agree with the statement lies in the fact that the evaluation on the greatness of individuals by the people living after them is often more objective. As we know, when we live in a society, our minds and criteria to judge the truth is strongly influenced, sometimes determined, by the current mainstream points of view. Accordingly, some greatness of individuals may be ignored in reason that such greatness is not compatible to the common minds of their contemporaries. For instance, a great artist Van Gogh, whose works were not acknowledged during his life time that he could not sell any of his works, is considered to be one of the greatest artists in the twentieth century and in modern society his works are so appreciated that each of them is invaluable. From this point of view, the evaluation on Van Gogh's works by the contemporaries may not be objective and people who live after him can appreciate his greatness with a more impartial view.

In addition, the judgments by those who live after the great individuals will be more creditable. As a matter of fact, those who live after the forerunners would have more time to test the theory of the precursors and have a wider and more comprehensive view on the former theory. Take Copernicus as an example, the theory put forward by him that the earth goes around the sun was considered to be defiant to the religious doctrines and few people at that time supported his discovery. Although his theory is not completely correct from today's views, his discovery is still considered to be of great value and he is honored to be a pioneer in the astronomical area. There are a great amount of similar examples in history which indicate that some great discoveries and works were not well acknowledged at their times but still shine in the modern society. Taking such precedents into account, we could find out that people who live later are more competent to judge the greatness of former individuals equitably.

However, the evaluation of the contemporaries could not be neglected in haste in that it is justified in some areas. As we know, it can not be denied that in the sports competitions such as running races who runs fastest is the best runner at that time. Such examples can also be found in business areas where the results of competitions could be clear in a short and the greatness of individuals is so obvious that it does not need time to confirm itself. Even in some areas where the greatness needs time to evaluate, the comments of the contemporaries could not be neglected either in the reason that they reflect the common sense in that time and such comments promote the progress indirectly.

In conclusion, the greatness of individuals should be mainly decided by those who live after them, while the evaluation of their contemporaries may also be reasonable. After the above discussing, it is obvious that the evaluation by those who live later is more objective and credible, whereas the evaluation of the contemporaries should also be taken into account.

endymionUID: 2119077

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