UPSC Mains Essay PYQs, 2016-2026

Oxymorons reflect the ironies of life.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

A grateful mind is very beautiful.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

A thorn is a changed bud.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Nature is the symbol of the spirit.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Shelving hard decisions is the least ethical course.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

A good leader is one who follows the followers.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Truth knows no color.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Thought finds a world and creates one also.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Best lessons are learnt through bitter experiences.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

The years teach much which the days never know.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Contentment is natural wealth; luxury is artificial poverty.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

The doubter is a true man of science.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

All ideas having large consequences are always simple.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Not all who wander are lost.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Inspiration for creativity springs from the effort to look for the magical in the mundane.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Mathematics is the music of reason.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

You cannot step twice in the same river

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

The real is rational and the rational is real.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

What is research, but a blind date with knowledge!

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

There are better practices to "best practices".

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Life is long journey between human being and being humane

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Mindful manifesto is the catalyst to a tranquil self

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Culture is what we are, civilization is what we have

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Technology as the silent factor in international relations

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Wisdom finds truth

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Best for an individual is not necessarily best for the society

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

South Asian societies are woven not around the state, but around their plural cultures and plural identities

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Biased media is a real threat to Indian democracy

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Rise of Artificial Intelligence: the threat of jobless future or better job opportunities

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Alternative technologies for a climate change resilient India

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Management of Indian border disputes—a complex task

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

The past' is a permanent dimension of human consciousness and values

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

A people that values its privileges above its principles loses both

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Reality does mot conform to the ideal, but confirms it

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Impact of the new economic measures on fiscal ties between the union and states in India.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Destiny of a nation is shaped in its classrooms..

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

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

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

We may brave human laws but cannot resist natural laws.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks

Social media' is inherently a selfish medium.

1000-1200 words · 125 marks