2005 - 8th Grade 5th Place:

Tia Young, Illinois

Truth or Beauty?

What is more important, truth or beauty? Beauty is being above all others and being able to say here I am, love me or not, I am me. However beauty can become tainted. It can take the heart of many and seduce the human mind. It can ravage the soul and become a vile source of energy feeding on the pain put into others because of beauty. Over the years beauty has been taken for granted and placed above everything else. The mind and heart do not matter. Only the physical body is wanted. So, which is more important, truth or beauty? I say truth.

Truth is one of the few words that establish a real meaning. It is one of the few reasons that man has to exist, to hold onto. Truth is beauty in its purest form. Truth is love and respect for those you are being truthful to. Truth is a foundation on which society of man is built. Without truth there is no trust. There is no justice. The meaning of truth is greater than man itself. Marriage, love, and happiness all depend on truth. If the truth isn't found, how can relationships last? How has the Earth lived on so long? The trust between Earth and man based on truth kept both alive. So why is truth important to me?

Truth plays many roles in everyone's life. Truth makes people, including me, see truth is the best way to live. Looking back on my life, seeing how I got into trouble for petty lies and small quarrels that could have been avoided if I or someone else had told the truth, I could have avoided a lot of time outs and punishments. There were times when I saw others get in trouble for something someone else did because of lies. Or just times that a punishment was worse because someone didn't come forward with the truth.

So truth, the truth, my truth, in being what it is, a form of life and good, a foundation to the world, is what I choose. Know that with truth you can never feel of a lesser person because you will be beautiful.

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