A debate on "Diligence Is More Important Than Intelligence For Success In Life"

A very good morning, Mdm Speaker, honourable adjudicators, esteemed timekeepers, my worthy opponents, and of course, my most attentive and supportive members of the floor.

We, the government, stand strong in our belief that today’s motion, “Diligence Is More Important Than Intelligence For Success In Life” is The truth, and nothing but the truth. Now, we do not deny that intelligence is important. In fact, we definitely agree that intelligence is needed for success. Nevertheless, it is our opinion that diligence rather than just intelligence, plays a larger and more important role in the attainment of success in life.

Before I proceed any further, I will first give you a crystal clear definition of the key words in today’s topic. Diligence comes from the word diligent, which, according to the Oxford International Dictionary of English, means hardworking,and showing care plus effort. The phrase ‘more important’, on the other hand, means having a greater effect on the consequence while intelligence means possessing a highly developed intellect. Lastly, the word success can be defined as the accomplishment or attainment of a desired object or result.

Therefore, the topic today says that being hardworking and giving effort to what you do will bring you success rather than just sitting around and relying solely on your grey matter.To give you a clearer understanding of the motion, let’s take Ah Moi and Ah Lian for example. Ah Moi isn’t exceptionally smart, but she constantly shows care and effort to everything she does, never giving up even when things aren’t exactly going her way. On the other hand, Ah Lian has an estimated IQ of 200! She’s never short of all sorts of ideas, but when it comes to working on them, it seems as if her butt is eternally stuck to the chair. Now, ladies and gentlemen, whom do YOU think will ultimately succeed in life? WE say Ah Moi, which means that diligence, rather than just intelligence is more important for achieving success in life.

As the first speaker from the affirmative, I will be touching on the issue that not everyone is intelligent but, all is not gone because it is diligence, and not intelligence which determines success. My 2nd speaker will then continue on how practice makes perfect. Also, she’ll be elaborating on the significance of perseverence and disipline, which are all different forms of diligence. Finally, our 3rd speaker will clear up the web of confusion that the opposition will try to weave around you, by rebutting every point which they will attempt to raise later.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s a tragic but true fact that not all of us are blessed with the IQ of a genius. I would like to invite members of the floor who think that they’re very intelligent to raise their hands please. (pause) As you can see, few, if any at all, can claim that they’re intelligent. Does this mean that they are all doomed to be failures in their lives? Certainly NOT, ladies and gentlemen. If intelligence is the dominant factor in determining success, well, then I guess we’ll all be better off gulping down bottles of cod liver oil and gingko pills! Fortunately, things have not come to such a sorry state. Instead, we diligently come to school each day fully armed with the will to learn, cherishing the hope that one day, we will be able to make something out of our lives. Why?? Because we know, that it is Diligence, and not intelligence which ultimately decides whether one succeeds or not. Not everyone is born with a high IQ, but certainly, everyone can be diligent IF they want to, and put their minds to it.

A classic example where diligence played a bigger role than intelligence would be none other than the greatest physicist of all time, Albert Einstein.He stuttered for the first nine years of his life and would only answer after a prolonged period of reflection. A typical sentence from him would probably go like this—“I..i.i..h..ha..hate..schooool!!!” Well, it comes as no surprise at all that Einstein's parents suspected that he was mentally retarded! His grades in school were so horrible that a teacher asked him to quit. He failed his entrance exams to Zurich's Polytechnic Institute and had to reapply the following year. Even after finishing school, he had a hard time finding and holding down a job. Albert Einstein was not considered intelligent, ladies and gentlemen, in fact, he’s equivalent to a high school drop-out! Yet, this great man managed to churn out theories which completely altered man’s view of the universe. Now, there are many people who were way smarter than Einstein, but why didn’t they discover his famous equation of E=mc² (energy conversion) ? The answer is right before our eyes, my dear audience. Obviously, they weren’t diligent and focused enough in their work!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Someone worth mentioning would be Ross Perot. He is a self-made American multimillionaire and presidential candidate, who recently addressed the graduating class of a small university. He first commented on the top students and warned them that many would not succeed because they would rely on their intelligence and not fully apply themselves.Then he addressed those who were ranked in the middle of the class. He said that they held the biggest opportunity to succeed in life because they understood that they would have to work hard and persevere to succeed. In short, they had to be Diligent. More often than not, people who possess high IQs fail because their laziness could not support the size of their large egos. They think that because they’re oh-so-clever, they can just sit back, relax and wait for success to come knocking on their doors. In the end, people who are diligent rather than intelligent are the ones who succeed.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The diligence of the Wright brothers gave us wings to fly. The diligence of Alexander Graham Bell gave us the power to converse from great distances. The diligence of Nelson Mandela gave us peace. I could diligently continue to give you hundreds of examples of how diligence played a more important role than intelligence in obtaining success, but it is high time for me to step down. For your information, many of these people I have mentioned are not considered as particularly intelligent people. Instead, they were more diligent rather than just intelligent. The point is, without diligence, all these men would have stood a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding in life.

Before I take my seat, I would like to reaffirm our stand today so that it is imprinted firmly in all your minds, that Diligence, and not intelligence, plays the bigger role for one to be successful. The illusion that one can succeed with only intelligence is too ridiculous to even contemplate on. I have full faith in your judgment, ladies and gentlemen, to see that being diligent is definitely more important than just being intelligent for success in life. With that, I thank you.

We often equate success with wealth and fame,but there are many other areas in life where success is desirable,where diligence not intelligence plays a more important role.A marriage for example is not going to work out if either spouse keeps on expounding their brilliant intellect and spends no effort in keeping their marriage alive with passion. It’s no surprise that pretty soon they’ll be expounding how they became ex-spouses. I’m sure many of you out there agree with me;the men will be diligent in working to support their family and remembering the all important dates like their marriage anniversary while women will be diligent in the many roles they juggle to keep the family warm and happy which may include roles such as beig the second breadwinner.A gigantic ego and the bursting pride that comes with it has no place in a happy,sucessful family.Intelligence doesn’t guarantee success in our social life either,in fact being much more intelligent than others is more likely to make you an outcast rather tha mr./miss popular,effort needs to be invested in order to make and sustain meaningful friendships.

Diamond in the rough.—diligence required to unleash the full potential of a person

Emotional intelligence—not sth which is inherited, effort needed to learn it