UPSC Mains 2020-General Studies-III (Question Paper)

1. Truth knows no color.

2. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

3. Thought finds a world and creates one also.

4. Best lessons are learnt through bitter experiences.

5. Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

6. The years teach much which the days never know.

7. It is best to see life as a journey, not as a destination.

8. Contentment is natural wealth; luxury is artificial poverty.

1. Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them.

2. The empires of the future will be the empires of the mind.

3. There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path.

4. The doubter is a true man of science.

5. Social media is triggering ‘Fear of Missing Out’ amongst the youth, precipitating depression and loneliness.

6. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but to test the character, give him power.

7. All ideas having large consequences are always simple.

8. The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.

1. Thinking is like a game, it does not begin unless there is an opposite team.

2. Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic.

3. Not all who wander are lost.

4. Mathematics is the music of reason.

5. Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands—two equally harmful disciplines.

6. A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.

7. Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

8. There can be no social justice without economic prosperity, but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless.

1. Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence.

2. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.

3. History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man.

4. A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for.

5. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.

6. You cannot step twice in the same river.

7. A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities.

8. Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right.

1. The process of self-discovery has now been technologically outsourced.

2. Your perception of me is a reflection of you; my reaction to you is an awareness of me.

3. Philosophy of wantlessness is Utopian, while materialism is a chimera.

4. The real is rational and the rational is real.

5. Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

6. What is research, but a blind date with knowledge!

7. History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.

8. There are better practices to “best practices”.

1. Life is a long journey between human being and being humane.

2. Mindful manifesto is the catalyst to a tranquil self.

3. Ships do not sink because of water around them, ships sink because of water that gets into them.

4. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

5. Culture is what we are, civilization is what we have.

6. There can be no social justice without economic prosperity but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless.

7. Patriarchy is the least noticed yet the most significant structure of social inequality.

8. Technology as the silent factor in international relations.

1. Wisdom finds truth.

2. Values are not what humanity is, but what humanity ought to be.

3. Best for an individual is not necessarily best for society.

4. Courage to accept and dedication to improve are two keys to success.

5. South Asian societies are woven not around the state, but around their plural culture and plural identities.

6. Neglect of primary health care and education in India are reasons for its backwardness.

7. Biased media is a real threat to Indian democracy.

8. Rise of Artificial Intelligence: the threat of jobless future or better job opportunities through reskilling and upskilling.

1. Alternative technologies for a climate change resilient India.

2. A good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

3. Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere.

4. Management of Indian border dispute is a complex task.

5. Customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life.

6. ‘The past’ is a permanent dimension of human consciousness and values.

7. A people that values its privileges above its principles loses both.

8. Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it.

1. Farming has lost the ability to be a source of subsistence for majority of farmers in India.

2. Impact of the new economic measures on fiscal ties between the Union and States in India.

3. Destiny of a nation is shaped in its classrooms.

4. Has the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) lost its relevance in a multipolar world?

5. Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

6. Fulfilment of 'new woman' in India is a myth.

7. We may brave human laws but cannot resist natural laws.

8. ‘Social media’ is inherently a selfish medium.

1. If development is not engendered, it is endangered.

2. Need brings greed, if greed increases it spoils breed.

3. Water disputes between states in federal India.

4. Innovation is the key determinant of economic growth and social welfare.

5. Cooperative federalism: Myth or reality.

6. Cyberspace and internet: Blessing or curse to the human civilization in the long run.

7. Near jobless growth in India: An anomaly or an outcome of economic reforms.

8. Digital economy: A leveller or a source of economic inequality.

1. Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole.

2. Quick but steady wins the race.

3. Character of an institution is reflected in its leader.

4. Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil.

5. Technology cannot replace manpower.

6. Crisis faced in India – moral or economic.

7. Dreams which should not let India sleep.

8. Can capitalism bring inclusive growth?