VOICES
OF
WISDOM
COMPILED BY PAUL HARRIS
FOREWORD BY GEORGE C. LODGE
2004
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of men of old.
Seek what they sought."
-- Kukai (774-835)
Contents
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FOREWORD, by George C. Lodge |
5 |
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
7 |
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PART I: |
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THE VOICES |
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1 |
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Buddha |
9 |
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Sayings of
the Buddha |
11 |
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2 |
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Confucius |
16 |
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Sayings of
Confucius |
17 |
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3 |
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Jesus |
22 |
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Sayings of
Jesus |
23 |
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4 |
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32 |
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Sayings of |
33 |
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5 |
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Lao Tzu |
38 |
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Sayings of
Lao Tzu |
40 |
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6 |
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Moses |
45 |
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Sayings of
Moses |
46 |
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7 |
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Muhammad |
48 |
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Sayings of
Muhammad |
50 |
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8 |
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Socrates |
55 |
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Sayings of
Socrates |
56 |
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Contents |
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PART II: |
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THE THEMES |
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1 |
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Humility |
63 |
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2 |
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Humanity |
66 |
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3 |
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Love |
69 |
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4 |
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Compassion |
71 |
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5 |
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Responsibility |
73 |
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6 |
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Service |
77 |
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7 |
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Community |
80 |
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8 |
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Leadership |
83 |
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9 |
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Harmony |
87 |
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10 |
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Wisdom |
90 |
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11 |
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Faith |
93 |
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12 |
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Eternal Life |
98 |
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THE TRANSLATIONS |
103 |
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BIBLIOGRAPHY |
104 |
FOREWORD
George C. Lodge
Globalization is a fact and a process. The fact is that the world's people and
nations are more interdependent than ever before and becoming more so. The measures of interdependence are global
flows of such things as trade (including media and tourism), immigration, and
investment, and the related degradation of the ecosystem on which all life
depends, a degradation that constantly reminds us that we are passengers on a
spaceship, or, more ominously, a lifeboat.
The process of globalization
is both technological and human.
Technologically, new systems of global information and communication
foster and link the agents of globalization -- multinational corporations,
sometimes with governments as their partners.
On the human side, globalization is pulled by exploding consumer desires
and pushed by ingenious corporate managers, who themselves are driven by a
variety of urges -- to serve their communities or their shareholders, to gain
wealth and power, or simply to exercise their skills and talents.
Globalization is a promise
of efficiency in spreading the good things of life to those who lack them. It is also a menace to those who are left
behind, excluded from its benefits. It means
convergence and integration; it also means conflict and disintegration. It is upsetting old ways, and challenging
cultures, religions, and systems of belief.
It accentuates global diversity.
Whether globalization is a
positive force in the world will depend upon how it is managed. Thus, although it appears to be an economic
and technological phenomenon, it is also a political one. Economic and technological engines are running
at full speed; however, the political mechanisms to manage them are either
nonexistent or in trouble. Multinational
corporations and their technological infrastructure span the world, merging,
acquiring, cooperating, and competing with dizzying speed. National governments vie for their favors but
increasingly cannot control them. And
such transnational apparatus as exists are inadequate to the task.
At the end of World War II,
the world readied itself for globalization by forming the United Nations and
its sister institutions, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (which became the World Trade
Organization in 1995). Then the Cold War
set in and the world divided. The Cold
War paralyzed globalization, replacing it with regionalization. Now the Cold War is over, yet the governance
of globalization remains weak and confused.
There is no consensus about
the purposes that globalization serves and the direction it should take. It proceeds, therefore, in limbo; as it
intensifies, it highlights conflicts about its effects and priorities. These conflicts arise from different systems
for interpreting values. The question
arises, "Is there some overarching value system within which a consensus
might be possible?"
In this book, Harris brings
together sayings attributed to the founders or primary representatives of eight
major religious and philosophical traditions of the world: the Buddha (Buddhism), Confucius
(Confucianism), Jesus (Christianity), Krishna (Hinduism), Lao Tzu (Taoism), Moses
(Judaism), Muhammad (Islam), and Socrates (Western Philosophy). Perhaps by returning to the roots of these
traditions we may be able to find common ground from which a global consensus
on values can begin to emerge. We may
also be able to increase our understanding of basic cultural conflicts and
resolve these conflicts or accept them as part of the multicultural diversity
which adds texture to our world.
"If politics had never called in the aid of
religion, had the conquering party never adopted the tenets of one sect more
than those of another, when it had gained the victory, it would probably have
dealt equally and impartially with all the different sects, and have allowed
every person to choose his own religion as he thought proper….The teachers of
each little sect, finding themselves almost alone, would be obliged to respect
those of almost every other sect, and the concessions which they would mutually
find it both convenient and agreeable to make to one another, might in time
probably reduce the doctrine of the greater part of them to that pure and
rational religion, free from every mixture of absurdity, imposture, or
fanaticism, such as wise men have in all ages of the world wished to see
established."
--- Adam Smith
The
Wealth of Nations1, 1776.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…."
---- First Amendment
"Everyone
has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or
in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
---- Article 18
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights," U.N., 1948.
1 Smith, Adam, The
Wealth of Nations, The Modern Library,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank George Lodge, who has been a
friend and mentor for more than thirty years, and whose advice and encouragement
have provided support for this project from its beginning. Tu Weiming has contributed significantly to
the transformation of a confusedly formed rough draft into a final manuscript. Guy Cassegrain has helped me to examine and
clarify ideas as the project took shape.
I am also grateful for the help provided by Robert Greenleaf, Irving
Schwartz, Linda Larson, Beth Kennedy, Peter Dopp, Jack Sommer, Ralph Norman,
Frank Fisher, Jack McElwee, John Q. Adams, Roger Nastou, Mark Ray, and Julia
Hu. My family has been a constant source
of inspiration and support. This book is
dedicated to my father, Robert T. Harris.
The translations used in this book are given in the
translation section. Material about the
eight leaders comes from Huston Smith's The
World's Religions and from the Columbia
Encyclopedia, Third Edition, Columbia University Press:
Note: Each saying appears twice in this book. It appears in PART I: THE VOICES and again in
PART II: THE THEMES. The number of the
saying in PART I is identical to the number of the same saying in PART II.
PART I:
THE VOICES
BUDDHA
The Buddha (563? - 483?
B.C.E.) was born Gautama (family name) Siddhartha (given name) as a Hindu
prince in what is now Rummindei, Nepal, near the border of India. According to tradition, Brahmans predicted
that the baby would become a universal king or a "buddha"
("enlightened one" or "awakened one"). Siddhartha's mother died soon after he was
born. His father wanted the baby to
become a great king. He raised
Siddhartha in magnificent luxury and attempted to shield him from all
suffering. At 16, Siddhartha married his
cousin, Yasodhara, also 16.
At 29, Siddhartha was
outside of his palace and saw an old man.
His charioteer told him that all people are subject to old age. Then he saw a sick man and was told that all
people are subject to sickness. Then he
saw a corpse and was told that all people die.
Finally, he saw a wandering ascetic with a shaven head and yellow robe. Siddhartha was impressed by the man's
peaceful demeaner and determined to leave his wife and young child to become a
wandering ascetic.
For 6 years Siddhartha
searched for the truth with help from several renowned teachers. He practiced various severe austerities and
extreme self-mortifications until he became completely emaciated. He then realized that this was not the way he
was seeking. He rejected extreme
asceticism and because of this his companions left him. He began eating again and regained his
physical health.
At 35, he determined to sit
in meditation under what is now known as the bodhi, or bo, tree until he
attained enlightenment. He succeeded in
resisting great temptations, realized the Four Noble Truths, and became
enlightened.
After his enlightenment,
Siddhartha became known as the Buddha.
From then until his death at age
80, he taught the middle path, or Noble Eightfold Path, which is neither
self-indulgence nor self-mortification.
Shortly before he died, one
of his disciples asked what they should do with his remains. He replied that they should focus on their
own spiritual development and let the lay devotees take care of his
remains. His last words were: "transient are all conditional
things. Try to accomplish your aim with
diligence." His body was cremated
shortly after he died.
THE BUDDHA'S FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
1.
To live is to suffer.
2.
The cause of suffering is desire.
3.
When desire ceases, suffering ceases.
4.
The way to let go of desire is the noble eightfold path.
THE BUDDHA'S EIGHTFOLD PATH
1.
Right View - The world is not as it
seems. Life is like a dream. Though we seem separate from each other, we
are One. Let go of illusion. See what is real. Find happiness within. Know yourself.
2.
Right Intention - Love everyone. Have a good attitude. Don't chase after pleasure. Don't run away from pain. Transform anger into love.
3.
Right Speech - Speak the truth. Speak kindly.
Respect others. Listen well. Use words to benefit others. Don't lie.
Don't cheat. Don't mislead. Don't gossip.
Don't use abusive language. Don't
interrupt.
4.
Right Conduct - Do what is right. Be considerate. Be generous.
Help others. Don't kill. Don't steal.
Don't engage in inappropriate sex.
Don't abuse drugs.
5.
Right Livelihood - Good work is love in
action. Serve others. Your work is to discover your work and then
to give yourself to it completely. Work
in ways which are healthy and productive.
Use money wisely.
6.
Right Effort - Make an effort to develop
and maintain good thoughts and habits.
Make an effort to avoid and let go of harmful thoughts and habits. Lean into the pain. Love even when it is difficult.
7.
Right Mindfulness - Be aware of what is
happening. Be fully present. Pay attention. Be alert.
Watch what you do. Wake up.
8.
Right Concentration - Meditate. Calm yourself. Let go of distractions. Focus.
Transcend the mind.
Sayings of the Buddha
Humility
4. Look to your own faults,
what you have done or left undone.
Overlook the faults of others. (Dhammapada, 4.)
Humanity
33. It is better to do nothing than to do what is
wrong. For whatever you do, you do to
yourself. (Dhammapada, 22.)
50. To be a mother is sweet, and a father. It is sweet to live arduously, and to master
yourself. O how sweet it is to enjoy
life, living in honesty and strength!
And wisdom is sweet, and freedom.
(Dhammapada, 23.)
Love
63. In this world, hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and
inexhaustible. (Dhammapada, 1.)
66. Live in joy, in love, even among those who
hate. Live in joy, in health, even among
the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace,
even among the troubled....The winner sows hatred because the loser
suffers. Let go of winning and losing
and find joy....Look within. Be
still. Free from fear and attachment,
know the sweet joy of the way....Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the
awakened, the loving, for they know how to work and forbear. (Dhammapada,
15.)
68. It is the beginning of life, of mastery and
patience, of good friends along the way, of a pure and active life. So live in love. Do your work.
Make an end of your sorrows....Quieten your body. Quieten your mind. You want nothing. Your words are still. You are still. By your own efforts waken yourself, watch
yourself. And live joyfully. You are the master, you are the refuge. How gladly you follow the words of the
awakened. How quietly, how surely you
approach the happy country, the heart of stillness. However young, the seeker who sets out upon
the way shines bright over the world. (Dhammapada, 25.)
Compassion
70. All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do? He who seeks happiness by hurting those who
seek happiness will never find happiness.
For your brother is like you. He
wants to be happy. Never harm him, and
when you leave this life you too will find happiness. (Dhammapada,
10.)
Responsibility
91. It is you who must make the effort. The masters only point the way. Everything arises and passes away. When you see this, you are above sorrow. This is the shining way. Master your words. Master your thoughts. Never allow your body to do harm. Follow these three roads with purity and you
will find yourself upon the one way, the way of wisdom. (Dhammapada,
20.)
95. The master is wakeful. He watches his body. In all actions he discriminates, and he
becomes pure. (Dhammapada, 21.)
103. We are what we think. All that we are arises with our
thoughts. With our thoughts we make the
world. Speak or act with an impure mind
and trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the
cart....Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you as your
shadow, unshakable. (Dhammapada, 1.)
112. He who lives purely and self assured, in quietness
and virtue, who is without harm or hurt or blame, even if he wears fine clothes,
so long as he also has faith, he is a true seeker....Believe, meditate,
see. Be harmless, be blameless. Awake to the law. And from all sorrow free yourself. (Dhammapada,
10.)
118. The fool is his own enemy. Seeking wealth, he destroys himself. Seek rather the other shore....In all things
be a master of what you do and say and think.
Be free....Delight in meditation and in solitude. Compose yourself, be happy. You are a seeker....Follow the truth of the
way. Reflect upon it. Make it your own. Live it.
It will always sustain you. Do
not turn away what is given you, nor reach out for what is given to
others....Give thanks for what has been given you, however little....Love and
joyfully follow the way. (Dhammapada, 24-25.)
Service
121. Love yourself and watch -- today, tomorrow,
always. First establish yourself in the
way, then teach, and so defeat sorrow.
To straighten the crooked you must first do a harder thing -- straighten
yourself. You are your only master. Who else?
Subdue yourself and discover your master. How hard it is to serve yourself, how easy to
lose yourself in mischief and folly.
Never neglect your work for another’s....Your work is to discover your
work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. (Dhammapada,
12.)
Community
142. The wise tell you where you have fallen and where
you yet may fall -- invaluable secrets!
Follow them, follow the way. Do
not look for bad company or live with people who do not care. Find friends who love the truth. The wise delight in the truth and follow the
law of the awakened. Neither praise nor
blame moves the wise. They are
clarity. Hearing the truth, they are
like a lake, pure and tranquil and deep.
(Dhammapada, 6.)
Leadership
168. If you determine your course with force or speed,
you miss the way of the law. Quietly
consider what is right and what is wrong.
Receiving all opinions equally, without haste, wisely, observe the
law....Be quiet, loving, and fearless.
For the mind talks, but the body knows.
The true master lives in truth, in goodness and restraint, nonviolence,
moderation and purity....he who weighs only purity in his scales, who sees the
nature of the two worlds, he is a master....O seeker! Rely on nothing until you want nothing. (Dhammapada,
19.)
Harmony
196. Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word
that brings peace. It is better to
conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours....Turn away from
mischief. Again and again, turn away,
before sorrow befalls you. Set your
heart on doing good. Do it over and over
again, and you will be filled with joy....Do not make light of your
failings....A jug fills drop by drop. So
the fool becomes brimful of folly. Do
not belittle your virtues....A jug fills drop by drop. So the wise become brimful of virtue. (Dhammapada,
8-9.)
205. If you sleep desire grows in you like a vine in the
forest. Like a monkey in the forest you
jump from tree to tree, never finding the fruit. From life to life, never finding peace. If you are filled with desire your sorrows
swell like the grass after the rain. But
if you subdue desire your sorrows fall from you like drops of water from a
lotus flower. This is good counsel and
it is good for everyone. O seeker! Give up desire. Shake off your chains. (Dhammapada,
24.)
209. Arise and watch.
Follow the way joyfully through this world and beyond....How can he lose
the way who is beyond the way? His eye
is open. His foot is free. Who can follow after him? The world cannot reclaim him or lead him
astray, nor can the poisoned net of desire hold him....He is awake and finds
joy in the stillness of meditation and in the sweetness of surrender. (Dhammapada,
13-14.)
213. At the end of the way the master finds freedom from
desire and sorrow -- freedom without bounds....He is the charioteer. He has tamed his horses, pride and the
senses....He is free from life and death.
His thoughts are still. His words
are still. His work is stillness....The
master surrenders his beliefs....He gives up all his desires. He resists all temptations....Wherever he
lives...there is great joy. He finds joy
because he wants nothing. (Dhammapada, 7.)
Wisdom
219. See what is.
See what is not. Follow the true
way. Rise. (Dhammapada,
22.)
224. Like a fish out of water, stranded on the shore,
thoughts thrash and quiver. For how can
they shake off desire? They tremble,
they are unsteady, they wander at their will.
It is good to control them, and to master them brings happiness. (Dhammapada,
3.)
231. Hard it is to be born, hard it is to live, harder
still to hear of the way, and hard to rise, follow, and awake. Yet the teaching is simple. Do what is right. Be pure.
At the end of the way is freedom.
Until then, patience....Offend in neither word nor deed. Eat with moderation. Live in your heart. Seek the highest consciousness. Master yourself according to the law. This is the simple teaching of the
awakened. (Dhammapada, 14.)
237. Do not let pleasure distract you from meditation,
from the way. Free yourself from
pleasure and pain. For in craving
pleasure or in nursing pain there is only sorrow....Let go of anger. Let go of pride. When you are bound by nothing you go beyond
sorrow....With gentleness overcome anger.
With generosity overcome greed.
With truth overcome deceit....Those who seek perfection keep watch by
day and night until all desires vanish.
The wise have mastered body, word, and mind. They are the true masters. (Dhammapada,
16-17.)
Faith
244. With single-mindedness the master quells his thoughts. He ends their wandering. Seated in the cave of the heart, he finds
freedom. An untroubled mind, no longer
seeking to consider what is right and what is wrong, a mind beyond judgments,
watches and understands. (Dhammapada, 3.)
Eternal Life
278. Your life is falling away. Death is at hand. Where will you rest on the way? What have you taken with you? You are the lamp to lighten the way....When
your light shines purely you will not be born and you will not die. As a silversmith sifts dust from silver,
remove your own impurities little by little....How easy to see your brother’s
faults, how hard to face your own....The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. All things arise and pass away. But the awakened awake forever. (Dhammapada,
18.)
287. Vainly I sought the builder of my house through
countless lives. I could not find
him....How hard it is to tread life after life!
But now I see you, O builder. And
never again shall you build my house....I have...beaten out desire. And now my mind is free. (Dhammapada,
11.)
291. Want nothing.
Where there is desire, say nothing.
Happiness or sorrow -- whatever befalls you, walk on untouched,
unattached. Few cross over the
river. Most are stranded on this
side. On the riverbank they run up and
down. But the wise, following the way,
cross over, beyond the reach of death.
They leave the dark way for the way of light. (Dhammapada,
6.)
296. The master is awake and he lives forever. He watches.
He is clear. How happy he
is. For he sees that wakefulness is
life. How happy he is, following the
path of the awakened....So awake, reflect, watch. Work with care and attention. Live in the way, and the light will grow in
you. (Dhammapada,
2.)
300. Go beyond this way or that way, to the farther shore
where the world dissolves and everything becomes clear. Beyond this shore and the farther shore,
beyond the beyond, where there is no beginning, no end. Without fear, go. Meditate.
Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work, with mastery. (Dhammapada,
26.)
302. Day and night the man who is awake shines in the
radiance of the spirit....He is never angry.
He keeps his promises....He offends no one. Yet he speaks the truth. His words are clear but never harsh....He
wants nothing from this world and nothing from the next. He is free.
Desiring nothing, doubting nothing, beyond judgment and sorrow and the
pleasures of the senses, he has moved beyond time. He is pure and free....He has found
peace. Calmly he lets go of life, of
home and pleasure and desire….In him the seed of renewing life has been
consumed….With dispassionate eye he sees everywhere the falling and the
uprising. And with great gladness he
knows that he has finished. He has woken
from his sleep….He has come to the end of the way, over the river of his many
lives, his many deaths....He has come to the end of the way. All that he had to do, he has done. And now he is one. (Dhammapada,
26.)
305. Quieten your mind. Reflect.
Watch. Nothing binds you. You are free.
You are strong. You have come to
the end. Free from passion and desire,
you have stripped the thorns from the stem.
This is your last body. You are
wise. You are free from desire and you
understand words and the stitching together of words. And you want nothing. I want nothing. I am free.
I found my way. Whom shall I call
teacher? The gift of truth is beyond
giving. The taste beyond sweetness. The joy beyond joy. (Dhammapada,
24.)
CONFUCIUS
For two thousand years, the
teachings of Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.E.)
have profoundly affected Chinese culture, education and government. Confucius (Kung Fu-tzu) was born into a
modest home without wealth or social rank.
His father died before he was three, so his mother raised him. The hardship and poverty of his early years
gave him an understanding of common people, later reflected in his
teachings. He enjoyed hunting and
fishing, but said, "At fifteen, I
set my mind upon learning." In his
twenties, he married and became a tutor.
He quickly became known for his personal qualities and practical wisdom,
and attracted some devoted followers. He
studied ancient Chinese texts and continued to teach throughout his life. His followers collected and recorded his
sayings.
Confucius lived during the
Period of the Warring States, in which thousands of people were killed in
political conflicts. There were many
philosophers and would be advisers to political leaders proposing solutions to
reduce the bloodshed. Confucius was one
of these, though he never attained a high position himself. He did, however, found a class of scholars,
which eventually became the ruling elite.
In 130 B.C.E., the teachings of Confucius became the official foundation
for training government officials. This
continued (except for the years 200 - 600) until the Empire collapsed in 1905.
Confucius often uses the
term 'chun tzu,' which is translated in this book 'gentleman.'
The term could be translated 'superior person,' 'mature person' or
'humanity-at-its-best.' It is the ideal
person one should strive to become. It
refers to a person who has self-respect and respects others, who has a broad
perspective, who is fully adequate, confident, poised and able to put others at
ease.
Sayings of Confucius
Humility
7. I make no claims to wisdom or to human perfection --
how would I dare? Still, my aim remains
unflagging and I never tire of teaching people.
(Analects, 7:34.)
16. I transmit, I invent nothing. I trust and love the past....Am I
knowledgeable? No. A bumpkin asked me a question, and my mind
went blank. Still, I hammered at his
problem from all sides, till I worked out something....I never denied my
teaching to anyone who sought it, even if he was too poor to offer more than a
token present for his tuition. (Analects, 7.1; 9.8; 7.7.)
24. A gentleman abides by three principles which I am
unable to follow: his humanity knows no anxiety; his wisdom knows no
hesitation; his courage knows no fear. (Analects, 14:28.)
28. If you offend Heaven, prayer is useless. (Analects,
3:13.)
Humanity
31. What you do not wish for yourself, do not impose
upon others. (Analects, 12.2.)
39. A man who respects his parents and his elders would
hardly be inclined to defy his superiors.
A man who is not inclined to defy his superiors will never foment a
rebellion. A gentleman works at the
root. Once the root is secured, the Way
unfolds. To respect parents and elders
is the root of humanity. (Analects, 1:2.)
41. Whoever could spread the five practices everywhere
in the world would implement humanity….Courtesy, tolerance, good faith,
diligence, generosity. Courtesy wards
off insults; tolerance wins all hearts; good faith inspires the trust of
others; diligence ensures success; generosity confers authority upon others. (Analects,
17.6.)
44. Your faults define you. From your very faults one can know your
quality....Seeking to achieve humanity leaves no room for evil. (Analects,
4.7, 4.4.)
47. Find out why a man acts, observe how he acts, and
examine where he finds peace. Is there
anything he could still hide?...A gentleman who lacks gravity has no authority
and his learning will remain shallow. A
gentleman puts loyalty and faithfulness foremost….When he commits a fault, he
is not afraid to amend his ways. (Analects, 2.10; 1.8.)
53. It is beautiful to live amidst humanity. To choose a dwelling place destitute of
humanity is hardly wise....To study without thinking is futile. To think without studying is dangerous....The
love of humanity without the love of learning degenerates into silliness. The love of intelligence without the love of
learning degenerates into frivolity. The
love of chivalry without the love of learning degenerates into banditry. The love of frankness without the love of
learning degenerates into brutality. The
love of valor without the love of learning degenerates into violence. The love of force without the love of
learning degenerates into anarchy. (Analects, 4.1; 2.15; 17.8.)
56. Set your heart upon the way; rely upon moral power;
follow goodness; enjoy the arts. (Analects, 7:6.)
Love
61. At home, a young man must respect his parents;
abroad, he must respect his elders. He
should talk little, but with good faith; love all people, but associate with
the virtuous. Having done this, if he
still has energy to spare, let him study literature. (Analects,
1.6.)
Compassion
74. What is done is done, it is all past; there would be
no point in arguing. (Analects, 3.21.)
Responsibility
88. In a country where the Way prevails, it is shameful
to remain poor and obscure; in a country which has lost the Way, it is shameful
to become rich and honored. (Analects, 8.13.)
94. Do not worry if you are without a position; worry
lest you do not deserve a position. Do
not worry if you are not famous; worry lest you do not deserve to be
famous. (Analects, 4.14.)
97. I have never seen a man capable of seeing his own
faults and of exposing them in the tribunal of his heart….If a man cannot be
trusted, I wouldn't know what to do with him….To worship gods that are not
yours, that is toadyism. Not to act when
justice commands, that is cowardice. (Analects,
5.27; 2.22; 2.24.)
100. Failure to cultivate moral power, failure to explore
what I have learned, incapacity to stand by what I know to be right, incapacity
to reform what is not good -- these are my worries. (Analects,
7.3.)
102. The 300 Poems
are summed up in one single phrase: "Think no evil." (Analects,
2.2.)
106. Always put the effort before the reward: is this not
the way to accumulate moral power? To
attack evil in itself and not the evil that is in people: is this not the way
to neutralize hostility? (Analects, 12.21.)
114. A gentleman eats without stuffing his belly; chooses
a dwelling without demanding comfort; is diligent in his office and prudent in
his speech; seeks the company of the virtuous in order to straighten his own
ways. Of such a man, one may truly say
that he is fond of learning. (Analects,
1.14.)
Service
122. A craftman who wishes to do good work must first
sharpen his tools. In whatever country
you may settle, offer your services to the most virtuous ministers and befriend
those gentlemen who cultivate humanity. (Analects, 15.10.)
127. The gentleman considers the whole rather than the
parts. The small man considers the parts
rather than the whole. (Analects, 2:14.)
129. Demand much from yourself, little from others, and
you will prevent discontent. (Analects, 15.15.)
131. It is easy to work for a gentleman, but not easy to
please him. Try to please him by immoral
means, and he will not be pleased; but he never demands anything that is beyond
your capacity. It is not easy to work
for a vulgar man, but easy to please him.
Try to please him, even by immoral means, and he will be pleased; but
his demands know no limits....A gentleman shows authority, but no
arrogance. A vulgar man shows arrogance,
but no authority. (Analects, 13.25-26.)
133. He who by revising the old knows the new, is fit to
be a teacher. (Analects, 2.11.)
135. A gentleman should be slow to speak and prompt to
act….A gentleman seeks virtue; a small man seeks land. A gentleman seeks justice; a small man seeks
favors. (Analects, 4.24; 4.11.)
137. To store up knowledge in silence, to remain forever
hungry for learning, to teach others without tiring -- all this comes to me
naturally. (Analects, 7.2)
Community
139. Don't worry if people don't recognize your merits;
worry that you may not recognize theirs….A gentleman resents his incompetence;
he does not resent his obscurity....A gentleman makes demands on himself; a
vulgar man makes demands on others. (Analects, 1.16; 15.19; 15.21.)
148. The fact remains that I have never seen a man who
loved virtue as much as sex. (Analects, 15.13.)
151. A gentleman must guard himself against three
dangers. When young, as the energy of
the blood is still in turmoil, he should guard against lust. In his maturity, as the energy of the blood
is at its full, he should guard against rage.
In old age, as the energy of the blood is on the wane, he should guard
against [greed]. (Analects, 16.7.)
153. A gentleman considers what is just; a small man
considers what is expedient....When the Way prevails in the state, serve
it. To serve a state that has lost the
Way -- this is shameful indeed....He who acts out of self-interest arouses much
resentment. (Analects, 4.16; 14.1; 4.12.)
155. A gentleman can indeed find himself in distress, but
only a vulgar man is upset by it....Speak with loyalty and good faith, act with
dedication and deference, and even among the barbarians your conduct will be
irreproachable….If you speak without loyalty and good faith, if you act without
dedication or deference, your conduct will be unacceptable, even in your own
village. (Analects, 15.2; 15.6.)
157. A gentleman gathers friends through his culture; and
with these friends, he develops his humanity.
(Analects, 12.24.)
159. [Kong-the-Civilized was called
"civilized"] because he had an agile mind, was fond of learning, and
was not ashamed to seek enlightenment from his inferiors....When you see a
worthy man, seek to emulate him. When
you see an unworthy man, examine yourself….He who practices humanity is
reluctant to speak….When the practice of something is difficult, how could one
speak about it lightly?….Whatever a gentleman conceives of, he must be able to
say; and whatever he says, he must be able to do. In the matter of language, a gentleman leaves
nothing to chance. (Analects, 5.15; 4.17; 12.3; 13.3.)
Leadership
165. If a man can steer his own life straight, the tasks
of government should be no problem for him.
If he cannot steer his own life straight, how could he steer other
people straight? (Analects, 13.13.)
172. Raise the straight and put them above the crooked,
so that they may straighten the crooked....If you desire what is good, the
people will be good. The moral power of
the gentleman is wind, the moral power of the common man is grass. Under the wind, the grass must bend....Guide
the officials. Forgive small
mistakes. Promote men of talent. (Analects,
12.22, 12.19, 13.2.)
174. To govern a state of middle size, one must dispatch business
with dignity and good faith; be thrifty and love all men; mobilize the people
only at the right times. (Analects, 1.5.)
176. To govern is to be straight. If you steer straight, who would dare not to
go straight?.…If you yourself were not covetous, they would not rob you, even
if you paid them to. (Analects, 12.17-18.)
179. There was a time when I used to listen to what
people said and trusted that they would act accordingly, but now I listen to
what they say and watch what they do. (Analects, 5.10.)
181. To attack a question from the wrong end -- this is
harmful indeed….I am going to teach you what knowledge is. To take what you know for what you know, and
what you do not know for what you do not know, that is knowledge indeed....A
gentleman does not approve of a person because he expresses a certain opinion,
nor does he reject an opinion because it is expressed by a certain
person.….Approach [people] with dignity and they will be respectful. Be yourself a good son and a kind father, and
they will be loyal. Raise the good and
train the incompetent, and they will be zealous…."Only cultivate filial
piety and be kind to your brothers, and you will be contributing to the body
politic." This is also a form of
political action; one need not necessarily join the government. (Analects,
2.16-17; 15.23; 2.20-21.)
185. Lead them by political maneuvers, restrain them with
punishments: the people will become cunning and shameless. Lead them with virtue, restrain them with
ritual: they will develop a sense of shame and a sense of participation. (Analects,
2.3.)
187. I follow no rigid prescriptions on what should, or
should not, be done....Clever talk and affected manners are seldom signs of
goodness....I wish to speak no more....Does Heaven speak? Yet the four seasons follow their course and
the hundred creatures continue to be born.
Does Heaven speak? (Analects, 18:8; 17:17,19.)
189. He is straight: things work out by themselves,
without his having to issue orders. He
is not straight: he has to multiply orders, which are not being followed
anyway. (Analects, 13.6.)
191. In the affairs of the world, a gentleman has no
[preconceived opinions]: he takes the side of justice. (Analects,
4.10.)
Harmony
195. A gentleman seeks harmony, but not conformity. A vulgar man seeks conformity, but not
harmony....What is the use of eloquence?
An agile tongue creates many enemies.
(Analects, 13:23; 5:5.)
204. Through self-cultivation, he achieves dignity. -- Is
that all? -- Through self-cultivation, he spreads his peace to his neighbors.
-- Is that all? -- Through self-cultivation, he spreads his peace to all
people....Put loyalty and trust above everything else;…do not be afraid to
correct your mistakes....When the Way prevails in the state, speak boldly and
act boldly. When the state has lost the
Way, act boldly and speak softly. (Analects, 14.42; 9.25; 14.3.)
206. A man with no concern for the future is bound to
worry about the present. (Analects, 15.12.)
211. Steady your course with ritual; find your
fulfillment in music. (Analects, 8.8.)
Wisdom
218. A gentleman takes care in nine circumstances: --
when looking, to see clearly; -- when listening, to hear distinctly; -- in his
expression, to be amiable; -- in his attitude, to be deferential; -- in his
speech, to be loyal; -- when on duty, to be respectful; when in doubt, to
question; -- when angry, to ponder the consequences; -- when gaining an
advantage, to consider what is fair. (Analects, 16.10.)
234. When dealing with a man who is capable of
understanding your teaching, if you do not teach him, you waste the man. When dealing with a man who is incapable of
understanding your teaching, if you do teach him, you waste your teaching. A wise teacher wastes no man and wastes no
teaching. (Analects, 15.8.)
236. Only the wisest and the stupidest never change. (Analects,
17.3.)
Faith
243. At fifteen, I set my mind upon learning. At thirty, I took my stand. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was attuned. At seventy, I follow all the desires of my
heart without breaking any rule. (Analects, 2.4.)
256. A gentleman fears three things. He fears the will of Heaven. He fears great men. He fears the words of the saints. A vulgar man does not fear the will of
Heaven, for he does not know it. He
despises greatness and he mocks the words of the saints. (Analects,
16.8.)
Eternal Life
280. A gentleman is without grief
and without fear....His conscience is without reproach. Why should he grieve, what should he
fear? (Analects, 12:4.)
JESUS
Although the modern calendar
is supposed to begin with the year Jesus was born, he was probably born a few
years earlier. His life (4? B.C.E. -
29?) is known mostly from the four Gospels and other writings in the New
Testament. Jesus was born a Jew in
Jesus never traveled more
than ninety miles from his birthplace, is not known to have held a paying job,
and wrote only in the sand. His
teachings were passed down by his disciples and preserved in the New
Testament. Today, about one-third of the
world's population is considered Christian.
Sayings of Jesus
Humility
3. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled
and anyone who humbles himself will be raised up. (Bible,
Matthew 23:11-12.)
11. Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone....By myself I
can do nothing; I can judge only as I am told to judge, and my judging is just,
because I seek to do not my will but the will of him who sent me. Were I to testify on my own behalf, my
testimony would not be true. (Bible, Mark 10:18, John 5:30-31.)
13. Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name
welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. The least among you all is the one who is the
greatest. (Bible, Luke 9:48.)
17. It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the
sick...I came to call not the upright, but sinners. (Bible,
Matthew 9:12.)
19. There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of
repentance. (Bible, Luke 15:7.)
21. Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as
inheritance. (Bible, Matthew 5:4.)
23. Many who are first will be last, and the last,
first. (Bible, Matthew 19:30.)
25. Two men went up to the
27. It is not anyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” who
will enter the
30. I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth,
for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to
little children. Yes, Father, for that
is what it pleased you to do. (Bible, Matthew 11:25-26.)
Humanity
32. Always treat others as you would like them to treat
you. (Bible, Matthew 7:12.)
40. Be compassionate just as your Father is
compassionate. Do not judge, and you
will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive and
you will be forgiven. Give, and there
will be gifts for you: a full measure,
pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap;
because the standard you use will be the standard used for you. (Bible,
Luke 6:36-38.)
42. Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of
God. (Bible,
Matthew 5:7-9.)
46. Stay awake, because you do not know the day when
your master is coming. (Bible, Matthew 24:42.)
48. Everything you ask and pray for, believe that you
have it already, and it will be yours.
And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody,
so that your Father in heaven may forgive your failings too. (Bible,
Mark 11:24-25.)
51. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my
brother and sister and mother. (Bible, Mark 3:35.)
Love
57. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my
love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may
be in you and your joy be complete. This
is my commandment: love one another, as
I have loved you. No one can have
greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. (Bible,
John 15:10-13.)
65. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his
sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the
upright and the wicked alike. (Bible, Matthew 5:44-45.)
67. I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present
the other cheek as well;....Treat others as you would like people to treat
you....You will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked....You must love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind. This is the greatest and the first
commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law,
and the Prophets too. (Bible, Luke 6:27-35; Matthew
22:36-40.)
69. You will know that I am in my Father and you in me
and I in you. Whoever holds to my
commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will
be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him....I am
the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark,
but will have the light of life. (Bible, John 14:20-21; 8:12.)
Compassion
73. If you are bringing your offering to the altar and
there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering
there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come
back and present your offering. (Bible, Matthew 5:23-24.)
81. Why do you observe the
splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the great log in your
own?...Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly
enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. (Bible,
Matthew 7:3-5.)
83. Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first
to throw a stone. (Bible, John 8:7.)
Responsibility
87. When someone is given a great deal, a great deal
will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal,
of that person even more will be expected.
(Bible, Luke 12:48.)
93. Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who
looks back is fit for the
98. What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, go
and work in the vineyard today.” The son
answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to
the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will? (Bible,
Matthew 21:28-31.)
101. You worry and fret about so many things, and yet few
are needed, indeed only one. (Bible, Luke 10:41-42.)
107. No one can serve two masters....You cannot serve
both God and money. (Bible, Luke 16:13.)
109. Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any
kind, for life does not consist in possessions, even when someone has more than
he needs. There was once a rich man who,
having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to
do? I have not enough room to store my
crops.” Then he said,...”I will pull
down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in
them, and I will say to my soul: “My
soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take
things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.”
But God said to him, “Fool! This
very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours,
whose will it be then?” So it is when
someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of
God. (Bible,
Luke 12:15-21.)
111. In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to
enter the
113. Pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar -- and God what
belongs to God. (Bible, Matthew 22:21.)
115. And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you
friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into
eternal dwellings. Anyone who is trustworthy
in little things is trustworthy in great; anyone who is dishonest in little
things is dishonest in great. If then
you are not trustworthy with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with
genuine riches? (Bible, Luke 16:9-11.)
Service
125. The greatest among you must behave as if he were the
youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is greater: the one at the table or the one who
serves? The one at the table surely? Yet here am I among you as one who
serves! (Bible, Luke 22:26-27.)
128. A man who was about to go abroad summoned his
servants and entrusted his property to them.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in
proportion to his ability. Then he set
out on his journey. The man who had
received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five
more. The man who had received two made
two more in the same way. But the man
who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s
money. Now a long time afterwards, the
master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with
them. The man who had received the five
talents came forward bringing five more....His master said to him, “Well done,
good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small
things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s
happiness.” The master then said the
same to the second servant, who had received two talents and came forward
bringing two more. Last came forward the
man who had the single talent....The master took the talent from him and gave
it to the man who had the ten talents.
For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than
enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has. (Bible,
Matthew 25:14-29.)
130. Disciple is not superior to teacher, nor servant to
master. It is enough for disciple to
grow to be like teacher, and servant like master. (Bible,
Matthew 10:24.)
132. Every writer who becomes a disciple of the
134. You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be
hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it
under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the
house. In the same way your light must
shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise
to your Father in heaven. (Bible, Matthew 5:14-16.)
Community
141. If your brother does something wrong, go and have it
out with him alone, between your two selves.
If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others
along with you....If he refuses to listen to these, report it to the
community. (Bible, Matthew 18:15-18.)
147. If you wish to enter into life, keep the
commandments: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. Honor your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Bible,
Matthew 19:17-22.)
156. Every country divided against itself is heading for
ruin; and no town, no household divided against itself can last. (Bible,
Matthew, 12:25.)
161. Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth,
where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in
heaven, where neither moth nor wormwood destroys them and thieves cannot break
in and steal. For wherever your treasure
is, there will your heart be too. (Bible, Matthew 6:19-21.)
Leadership
163. Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom
the master placed over his household to give them their food at the proper
time? Blessed that servant if his
master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that.
In truth I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of
everything he owns. (Bible, Matthew 24:45-47.)
173. Do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what
you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, because it is not you
who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. (Bible,
Matthew 10:19.)
178. All who draw the sword will die by the sword. (Bible,
Matthew 26:52.)
182. Any plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be
pulled up by the roots. Leave them
alone. They are blind leaders of the
blind; and if one blind person leads another, both will fall into a pit. (Bible,
Matthew, 15:13-14.)
184. In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in
his own country. (Bible, Luke 4:24.)
193. Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
(Bible, Matthew 6:9-10.)
Harmony
199. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a
peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. (Bible,
John 14:27.)
Wisdom
220. Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human
nature is weak....Everyone who listens to my words and acts on them will be
like a wise man who built his house on rock.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against
that house, and it did not fall: it was
founded on rock. But everyone who
listens to my words and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who
built his house on sand. Rain came down,
floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it
had. (Bible,
Matthew 26:41; 7:24-27.)
227. Make a tree sound and its fruit will be sound; make
a tree rotten and its fruit will be rotten.
For the tree can be told by its fruit....Words flow out of what fills
the heart. Good people draw good things
from their store of goodness; bad people draw bad things from their store of
badness....What goes into the mouth does not make anyone unclean; it is what
comes out of the mouth that makes someone unclean....Whatever goes into the
mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into the sewer. But whatever comes out of the mouth comes
from the heart, and it is this that makes someone unclean. For from the heart come evil
intentions....These are the things that make a person unclean. (Bible,
Matthew 12:33-35; 15:11-20.)
229. Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised
as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves.
You will be able to tell them by their fruits. (Bible,
Matthew 7:15-16.)
233. Do not be guided by those who do not practice what
they preach. They tie up heavy burdens
and lay them on the people’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move
them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract
attention. (Bible, Matthew 23:3-5.)
235. Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your
pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear
you to pieces. (Bible, Matthew 7:6.)
Faith
246. The
250. I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through
me. If you know me, you will know my
Father too. From this moment you know
him and have seen him....Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can
you say, “Show us the Father?” Do you
not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own
accord: it is the Father, living in me,
who is doing his works. You must believe
me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me....I am the good
shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know
the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not
of this fold, and I must lead these too.
They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, one
shepherd. The Father loves me, because I
lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I
have power to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again; and this is the
command I have received from my Father....The sheep that belong to me listen to
my voice; I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever
steal them from my hand. The Father, for
what he has given me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything
from the Father’s hand. The Father and I
are one....I pray not only for these but also for those who through their
teaching will come to believe in me. May
they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they
also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me,
that they may be one as we are one. With
me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will
recognize that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved
me. (Bible,
John 14:6-11;10:14-18; 10:27-30; 17:20-23.)
254. Listen, a sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of
the path, and the birds came and ate them up.
Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang
up at once, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up
they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew
up and choked them. Others fell on rich
soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Anyone who has ears should listen!....So pay
attention to the parable of the sower.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the
Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown on the edge of the
path. The seed sown on patches of rock
is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But such a person has no root deep down and
does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the
word, at once he falls away. The seed
sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and
the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing. And the seed sown in rich soil is someone who
hears the word and understands it; this is the one who yields a harvest and
produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty. (Bible,
Matthew 13:18-23.)
257. Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened,
and I will give you rest. Shoulder my
yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is
easy and my burden light....Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves;
so be cunning as snakes and yet innocent as doves. (Bible,
Matthew 11:28-30; 10:16.)
259. The
262. In all truth I tell you,...what is born of human
nature is human; what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows where it pleases; you can hear
its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit. (Bible, John 3:5-8.)
264. Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his
master....My teaching is not from myself:
it comes from the one who sent me; anyone who is prepared to do his
will, will know whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own
account. (Bible, John 15:20; 7:16-17.)
266. The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do
homage, him alone you must serve. (Bible, Matthew 4:10.)
268. How can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the
son of David? David himself, moved by
the Holy Spirit,...calls him Lord; in what way then can he be his son?...I came
into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the
side of truth listen to my voice. (Bible, Mark 12:35-37; John 18:37.)
270. Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the
one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as light, to
prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more. (Bible,
John 12:44-46.)
272. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and
everything now hidden will be made clear....Blessed are your eyes because they
see, your ears because they hear! In
truth I tell you, many prophets and upright people longed to see what you see,
and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it. (Bible,
Matthew 10:26; 13:16-17.)
274. That is why I am telling you not to worry about your
life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to
wear. Surely life is more than food, and
the body more than clothing! Look at the
birds in the sky. They do not sow or
reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them....And why worry
about clothing? Think of the flowers
growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that
not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the wild
flowers in the field...will he not much more look after you, you who have so
little faith? So do not worry; do not
say, “What are we to eat? What are we to
drink? What are we to wear?...” Your heavenly Father knows you need these things. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on
God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as
well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for
the day. (Bible, Matthew 6:25-34.)
276. The coming of the
Eternal Life
282. In all truth I tell you, whoever keeps my word will
never see death....If you make my word your home you will indeed be my
disciples; you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you
free. (Bible, John 8:51,31-36.)
285. Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you
will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who
searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened....In all truth I
tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but
because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that goes bad, but work
for food that endures for eternal life....It was not Moses who gave you the
bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the
true bread; for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world. (Bible, Matthew 7:7-8; John 6:26-27,
32-33.)
290. If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him
renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose
it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will anyone gain by winning the
whole world and forfeiting his life?...For I have not spoken of my own accord;
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to speak, and I
know that his commands mean eternal life.
And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak....In truth I
tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never
enter the
295. In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls
into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it
yields a rich harvest....I am the resurrection.
Anyone who believes in me, even though that person dies, will live, and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (Bible,
John 12:24-26; 11:25-26.)
303. It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has
nothing to offer. The words I have
spoken to you are spirit and they are life....My food is to do the will of the
one who sent me, and to complete his work....Let anyone who is thirsty come to
me! Let anyone who believes in me come
and drink. As scripture says, “From his
heart shall flow streams of living water....” No one who drinks the water that
I shall give will ever be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will
become a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life. (Bible,
John 6:63; 4:34; 7:37-38; 4:14.)
Sayings of
Humility
5. Those who know truly are free from pride and
deceit. (Bhagavad Gita, 13:7.)
Humanity
34. He is dear to me who runs not after the pleasant or
away from the painful, grieves not, lusts not, but lets things come and go as
they happen. That devotee who looks upon
friend and foe with equal regard, who is not buoyed up by praise nor cast down
by blame, alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, free from selfish
attachments, the same in honor and dishonor, quiet, ever full, in harmony
everywhere, firm in faith -- such a one is dear to me. (Bhagavad
Gita, 12:17-19.)
Love
59. They alone see truly who see the Lord the same in
every creature....Seeing the same Lord everywhere, they do not harm themselves
or others. (Bhagavad Gita, 13:27-32.)
Compassion
76. Give simply because it is right to give, without
thought of return, at proper times, in proper circumstances, and to worthy
people. (Bhagavad Gita, 17:20.)
Responsibility
86. By performing his own work, one worships the Creator
who dwells in every creature. Such
worship brings that person to fulfillment.
It is better to perform one’s own duties imperfectly than to master the
duties of another....No one should abandon duties because he sees defects in
them. Every action, every activity, is
surrounded by defects as a fire is surrounded by smoke. (Bhagavad
Gita, 18:46-48.)
108. To refrain from selfish acts is one kind of
renunciation...to renounce the fruit of action is another:...to fulfill your
responsibilities knowing that they are obligatory, while at the same time
desiring nothing for yourself....As long as one has a body, one cannot renounce
action altogether. True renunciation is
giving up all desire for personal reward.
(Bhagavad Gita, 18:2,9,11.)
Service
119. At the beginning of time I declared two paths for
the pure heart: the contemplative path
of spiritual wisdom, and the active path of selfless service....No one can gain
perfection by abstaining from work....Every creature is driven to action by his
own nature....Fulfill all your duties;....Act selflessly, without any thought
of personal profit....Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the
world....Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion. (Bhagavad
Gita, 3:3-26.)
138. The offering of wisdom is better than any material
offering,...for the goal of all work is spiritual wisdom. Approach someone who has realized the purpose
of life and question him with reverence and devotion; he will instruct you in
this wisdom....Those who take wisdom as their highest goal, whose faith is deep
and whose senses are trained, attain wisdom quickly and enter into perfect
peace. (Bhagavad Gita, 4:33-40.)
Community
140. Those...whose consciousness is unified, think
always, “I am not the doer....” Those
who possess this wisdom have equal regard for all. They see the same Self in a spiritual
aspirant and an outcaste, in an elephant, a cow, and a dog. Such people have mastered life....They are
not elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad....With consciousness unified
through meditation, they live in abiding joy.
(Bhagavad Gita, 5:8-21.)
Leadership
169. The wise, ever satisfied, have abandoned all
external supports. Their security is unaffected
by the results of their action; even while acting, they really do nothing at
all....Competing with no one, they are alike in success and failure and content
with whatever comes to them. They are
free. (Bhagavad Gita, 4:20-23.)
Harmony
198. Seek refuge in the attitude of detachment and you
will amass the wealth of spiritual awareness....When consciousness is
unified,...all vain anxiety is left behind.
(Bhagavad Gita, 2:49-50.)
207. Pleasures conceived in the world of the senses have
a beginning and an end and give birth to misery....The wise do not look for
happiness in them....those who overcome the impulses of lust and anger which
arise in the body are made whole and live in joy....Closing their eyes,
steadying their breathing, and focusing their attention on the center of
spiritual consciousness, the wise master their senses, mind, and intellect
through meditation. (Bhagavad Gita, 5:22-28.)
210. When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering
like the flame of a lamp in a windless place....Wherever the mind wanders,
restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it
within....Abiding joy comes to those who still the mind. (Bhagavad
Gita, 6:19-27.)
212. There is merit in studying the scriptures, in
selfless service, austerity, and giving,
but the practice of meditation carries you beyond all of these to the supreme home of the highest
Lord. (Bhagavad Gita, 8:28.)
Wisdom
215. The highest knowledge sees the one indestructible
Being in all beings, the unity underlying the multiplicity of creation....To
know when to act and when to refrain from action, what is right action and what
is wrong, what brings security and what insecurity, what brings freedom and
what bondage: these are the signs of
wisdom. (Bhagavad Gita, 18:20,30.)
223. I am ever present to those who have realized me in
every creature. Seeing all life as my
manifestation, they are never separated from me....Good people come to worship
me for different reasons. Some come to
the spiritual life because of suffering, some in order to understand life; some
come through a desire to achieve life’s purpose, and some come who are men and
women of wisdom....Seek the First Cause, from which the universe came long
ago. Not deluded by pride, free from
selfish attachment and selfish desire, beyond the duality of pleasure and pain,
ever aware of the higher Self, the wise go forward to that eternal goal....This
is my supreme home, and those who enter there do not return to separate
existence. (Bhagavad Gita, 6:30; 7:16; 15:4-6.)
238. Those who know truly are free from pride and
deceit. They are gentle, forgiving,
upright, and pure, devoted to their spiritual teacher, filled with inner
strength, and self-controlled....Free from selfish attachment, they do not get
compulsively entangled even in home and family.
They are even-minded through good fortune and bad. Their devotion to me is undivided. Enjoying solitude and not following the
crowd, they seek only me. This is true
knowledge, to seek the higher Self as the true end of wisdom always. To seek anything else is ignorance. (Bhagavad
Gita, 13:7-11.)
Faith
245. On this path effort never goes to waste, and there
is no failure. Even a little effort
toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear....Just as a
reservoir is of little use when the whole countryside is flooded, scriptures
are of little use to the illumined man or woman, who sees the Lord
everywhere. (Bhagavad Gita, 2:40,46.)
249. All the scriptures lead to me; I am their author and
their wisdom....I am the supreme Self, praised by the scriptures as beyond the
changing and the changeless. Those who
see in me that supreme Self see truly.
They have found the source of all wisdom, and they worship me with all
their heart....Those who understand this profound truth will attain wisdom;
they will have done that which has to be done.
(Bhagavad Gita, 15:15-20.)
251. The higher Self can never be tainted though it
dwells in every creature....My true being is unborn and changeless. I am the Lord who dwells in every
creature....Whenever the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on
earth....They who know me as their own divine Self break through the belief
that they are the body....Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached
to their results. Those who understand
this and practice it live in freedom. (Bhagavad Gita, 13:27-32; 4:6-14.)
Eternal Life
279. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the
dead. There has never been a time when
you and I...have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to
exist. As the same person inhabits the
body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he
attains another body. The wise are not
deluded by these changes. (Bhagavad Gita, 2:11-13.)
289. They are forever free who renounce all selfish
desires and break away from the ego-cage of “I,” “me,” and “mine” to be united
with the Lord. This is the supreme
state. Attain to this and pass from
death to immortality....Some realize the higher Self within them through the
practice of meditation, some by the path of wisdom, and others by selfless
service. Others may not know these
paths; but hearing and following the instructions of an illumined teacher, they
too go beyond death. (Bhagavad Gita, 2:71; 13:24-25.)
293. The impermanent has no reality; reality lies in the
eternal. Those who have seen the
boundary between these two have attained the end of all knowledge. Realize that which pervades the universe and
is indestructible; no power can affect this unchanging, imperishable
reality. The body is mortal, but he who
dwells in the body is immortal and immeasurable. (Bhagavad
Gita, 2:16-18.)
297. Those who follow this path, resolving deep within
themselves to seek Me alone, attain singleness of purpose. For those who lack resolution, the decisions
of life are many branched and endless.
Neither gods nor sages know my origin, for I am the source from which
the gods and sages come....in living beings I am consciousness....of all that
measures, I am time....Just remember that I support the entire cosmos with only
a fragment of my being. (Bhagavad Gita, 2:41; 10:2-42.)
299. I will tell you of the wisdom that leads to
immortality, which can be called neither being nor nonbeing. It dwells in all, in every hand and foot and
head...in the universe. Without senses
itself, it shines through the functioning of the senses. Completely independent, it supports all
things....It is both near and far, both within and without every creature; it
moves and is unmoving. In its subtlety
it is beyond comprehension. It is
indivisible, yet appears divided in separate creatures. Know it to be the creator, the preserver, and
the destroyer....It is called the light of lights, the object and goal of
knowledge, and knowledge itself. (Bhagavad Gita, 13.12-17.)
301. I shall explain now how people attain the supreme
consummation of wisdom. Unerring in
their discrimination, sovereign of their senses and passions, free from the
clamor of likes and dislikes, they lead simple, self reliant lives based on
meditation, controlling their speech, body, and mind. Free from self-will, aggressiveness,
arrogance, anger, and the lust to possess people or things, they are at peace
with themselves and others and enter into the unitive state. Ever joyful, beyond the reach of desire and
sorrow, they have equal regard for every living creature and attain supreme
devotion to me. By loving me they come
to know me truly; then they know my glory and enter into my boundless
being. All their acts are performed in
my service, and through my grace they win eternal life. Make every act an offering to me; regard me
as your only protector. Relying on
interior discipline, meditate on me always.
Remembering me, you shall overcome all difficulties through my
grace. (Bhagavad Gita, 18:50-58.)
304. Under my watchful eye the
laws of nature take their course....Truly great souls seek my divine
nature. They worship me with one-pointed
mind, having realized that I am the eternal source of all....They see that where
there is One, that One is me; where there are many, all are me; they see my
face everywhere....I am the father and mother of the universe....I am the sum
of all knowledge....I am the goal of life....I am the only refuge, the one true
friend....I am what is and what is not....Give all your love to me. Fill your mind with me; love me; serve me;
worship me always. Seeking me in your
heart, you will at last be united with me.
(Bhagavad Gita, 9:10-34.)
LAO TZU
Lao Tzu is the reputed
author of the Tao Te Ching (pronounced
dow duh ching), the fundamental text of Taoism.
"Tao" is usually translated "the way,"
"te" is translated
"virtue" or "power" or "integrity" and
"ching" is translated "classic' or simply "book." Thus, the Tao
Te Ching is "The Book of the Way and of Virtue." There is no reliable information about Lao
Tzu and many scholars believe that he is a legendary figure, not a historical
person. The sayings contained in the Tao Te Ching may have developed over
generations and Taoists may have passed them down orally before writing the Tao Te Ching sometime in the third
century B.C.E.
The name "Lao Tzu"
can be translated "the Old Boy," "the Old Fellow," or
"the Grand Old Master."
According to tradition, he lived in
Whether the sayings of the Tao Te Ching come from one person or
many, it seems likely that many of them were inspired by mystical
experience. William James, the great
American psychologist, wrote in The Varieties of Religious Experience, "personal religious experience has its
root and centre in mystical states of consciousness." James gave two primary characteristics by
which one can identify a mystical experience.
The first characteristic is ineffability, that is the experience
cannot be put into words. James states,
"The handiest of the marks by which I classify a state of mind as mystical
is negative. The subject of it immediately
says that it defies expression, that no adequate report of its contents can be
given in words. It follows from this
that its quality must be directly experienced; it cannot be imparted or
transferred to others. In this
peculiarity mystical states are more like states of feeling than like states of
intellect. No one can make clear to
another who has never had a certain feeling, in what the quality or worth of it
consists. One must have musical ears to
know the value of a symphony; one must have been in love one's self to
understand a lover's state of mind.
Lacking the ear or heart, we cannot interpret the musician or lover
justly, and are even likely to consider him weak-minded or absurd. The mystic finds that most of us accord to
his experience an equally incompetent treatment."
The second characteristic of
a mystical experience is the sense that one has of profound knowledge. James states, "They are states of
insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of
significance and importance."
James adds, "The
simplest rudiment of mystical experience would seem to be that deepened sense
of the significance of a maxim or formula which occasionally sweeps over
one. 'I've heard that said all my life,'
we exclaim, 'but I never realized its full meaning until now.' 'When a fellow-monk,' said Martin Luther,
'one day repeated the words of the Creed:
"I believe in the forgiveness of sins," I saw the Scripture in
an entirely new light; and straightway I felt as if I were born anew. It was as if I had found the door of paradise
thrown wide open.'"
The Tao Te Ching consists of a collection of maxims. These short statements express truths,
principles, and rules of conduct. They
often seem counter-intuitive because what is obvious doesn't need to be
said. For example, "running fast
wins the race" is not a maxim because it is too obvious. But "slow and steady wins the race"
is a maxim, not because it is literally true, but because it helps us to
balance our natural tendency to try to win by going fast. The moral in Aesop's fable "The Hare and
the Tortoise" is interesting because it helps us to understand an aspect
of human nature which is not obvious.
Maxims often seem to
contradict each other. For example,
"haste makes waste" and "he who hesitates is lost." Or "a penny saved is a penny
earned" and "nothing ventured nothing gained." Again, the purpose of a maxim is to help us
to stay balanced so that our natural tendencies don't lead us astray. The most famous maxim in the Tao Te Ching (chapter 64) is probably "A journey of a thousand
miles starts from beneath one's feet."
Sayings of Lao Tzu
Humility
2. Highest good is like water. Because water excels in benefiting the myriad
creatures without contending with them and settles where none would like to be,
it comes close to the way. (Tao Te Ching, 8.)
14. To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty. It is by being alive to difficulty that one
can avoid it. The sage meets with no
difficulty. It is because he is alive to
it that he meets with no difficulty. (Tao Te Ching, 71.)
20. In the world there is nothing more submissive and
weak than water. Yet for attacking that
which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it….That the weak overcomes the
strong, and the submissive overcomes the hard, everyone in the world knows yet
no one can put this knowledge into practice….Straightforward words seem
paradoxical. (Tao Te Ching, 78.)
22. A large state is the lower reaches of a river -- the
place where all the streams of the world unite.
In the union of the world, the female always gets the better of the male
by stillness. Being still, she takes the
lower position. Hence the large state,
by taking the lower position, annexes the small state; the small state, by
taking the lower position, affiliates itself to the large state. Thus the one, by taking the lower position,
annexes; the other, by taking the lower position, is annexed. All that the large state wants is to take the
other under its wing; all that the small state wants is to have its services
accepted by the other. If each of the
two wants to find its proper place, it is meet that the large should take the
lower postion. (Tao Te Ching, 61.)
26. The reason why the River and the Sea are able to be
king of the hundred valleys is that they excel in taking the lower
position. Hence they are able to be king
of the hundred valleys. Therefore,
desiring to rule over the people, one must in one's words humble oneself before
them; and, desiring to lead the people, one must, in one's person, follow
behind them. Therefore the sage takes
his place over the people yet is no burden; takes his place ahead of the people
yet causes no obstruction. That is why
the empire supports him joyfully and never tires of doing so. It is because he does not contend that no one
in the empire is in a position to contend with him. (Tao
Te Ching, 66.)
29. One who excels as a warrior does not appear
formidable; one who excels in fighting is never roused in anger; one who excels
in defeating his enemy does not join issue; one who excels in employing others
humbles himself before them. This is
known as the virtue of non-contention; this is known as making use of the
efforts of others; this is known as matching the sublimity of heaven. (Tao
Teh Ching, 68.)
Humanity
38. Man models himself on earth, earth on heaven, heaven
on the way, and the way on that which is naturally so. (Tao
Te Ching, 25.)
55. When the best student hears about the way he
practices it assiduously; when the average student hears about the way it seems
to him one moment there and gone the next; when the worst student hears about
the way he laughs out loud. If he did
not laugh it would be unworthy of being the way….The way that is bright seems
dull; the way that leads forward seems to lead backward; the way that is even
seems rough. The highest virtue is like
the valley; the sheerest whiteness seems sullied; ample virtue seems defective;
vigorous virtue seems indolent; plain virtue seems soiled....The way conceals
itself in being nameless. It is the way
alone that excels in bestowing and in accomplishing. (Tao
Te Ching, 41.)
Love
62. It is because you do not press down on [people] that
they will not weary of the burden. Hence
the sage knows himself but does not display himself, loves himself but does not
exalt himself. (Tao Te Ching, 72.)
Compassion
71. I have three treasures which I hold and
cherish. The first is known as
compassion, the second is known as frugality, the third is known as not daring
to take the lead in the empire….Now, to forsake compassion for courage, to
forsake frugality for expansion, to forsake the rear for the lead, is sure to
end in death. Through compassion, one
will triumph in attack and be impregnable in defence. What heaven succors it protects with the gift
of compassion. (Tao Te Ching, 67.)
79. The way is the refuge for the myriad creatures. It is that by which the good man protects,
and that by which the bad is protected….Even if a man is not good, why should
he be abandoned? (Tao Teh Ching, 62.)
Responsibility
90. The sage always excels in saving people, and so
abandons no one….This is called following one's discernment. Hence the good man is the teacher the bad
learns from; and the bad man is the material the good works on. Not to value the teacher nor to love the
material, though it seems clever, betrays great bewilderment. This is called the essential and the secret. (Tao
Te Ching, 27.)
Service
120. The way never acts yet nothing is left undone. Should lords and princes be able to hold fast
to it, the myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord. After they are transformed, should desire
raise its head, I shall press it down with the weight of the nameless uncarved block. The nameless uncarved block is but freedom
from desire, and if I cease to desire and remain still, the empire will be at
peace of its own accord. (Tao Te Ching, 37.)
136. Have in your hold the great image and the empire
will come to you. Coming to you and
meeting with no harm it will be safe and sound.
Music and food will induce the wayfarer to stop. The way in its passage through the mouth is
without flavor. It cannot be seen, it
cannot be heard, yet it cannot be exhausted by use. (Tao
Te Ching, 35.)
Community
144. Rather than fill it to the brim by keeping it
upright, better to have stopped in time.
Hammer it to a point and the sharpness cannot be preserved for
ever. There may be gold and jade to fill
a hall, but there is none who can keep them.
To be overbearing when one has wealth and position is to bring calamity
upon oneself. To retire when the task is
accomplished is the way of heaven. (Tao Te Ching, 9.)
Leadership
164. The best of all rulers is [barely known] to his
subjects. Next comes the ruler they love
and praise; next comes one they fear; next comes one with whom they take
liberties. When there is not enough
faith, there is a lack of good faith.
Hesitant, he does not utter words lightly. When his task is accomplished and his work
done the people all say, "It happened to us naturally." (Tao
Te Ching, 17.)
171. The myriad creatures all revere the way and honor
virtue. Yet the way is revered and
virtue honored not because this is decreed by any authority but because it is
natural for them to be treated so. Thus
the way gives them life and rears them; brings them up and nurses them; brings
them to fruition and maturity; feeds and shelters them. It gives them life yet claims no possession;
it benefits them yet exacts no gratitude; it is the steward yet exercises no authority. Such is called the mysterious virtue. (Tao
Te Ching, 51.)
175. It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still
secure; it is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop; it is easy
to break a thing when it is yet brittle; it is easy to dissolve a thing when it
is yet minute. Deal with a thing while
it is still nothing; keep a thing in order before disorder sets in. A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms
grows from a downy tip; a terrace nine stories high rises from hodfuls of
earth; a journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one's feet. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it;
whoever lays hold of it will lose it.
Therefore the sage, because he does nothing, never ruins anything; and,
because he does not lay hold of anything, loses nothing. In their enterprises the people always ruin
them when on the verge of success. Be as
careful at the end as at the beginning and there will be no ruined
enterprises. Therefore the sage desires
not to desire and does not value goods which are hard to come by; learns to be
without learning and makes good the mistakes of the multitude in order to help
the myriad creatures to be natural and to refrain from daring to act. (Tao
Te Ching, 64.)
177. When the people are not afraid of death, wherefore
frighten them with death?… There is a regular executioner whose charge it is to
kill. To kill on behalf of the
executioner is what is described as chopping wood on behalf of the master
carpenter. In chopping wood on behalf of
the master carpenter, there are few who escape hurting their own hands
instead. (Tao Te Ching, 74.)
180. Governing a large state is like boiling a small
fish. [This is because a small fish can
be spoiled simply by being handled.]
When the empire is ruled in accordance with the way, the spirits lose
their potencies. Or rather, it is not
that they lose their potencies, but that, though they have their potencies,
they do not harm the people. It is not
only they who, having their potencies, do not harm the people, the sage, also,
does not harm the people. As neither
does any harm, each attributes the merit to the other. (Tao Te Ching, 60.)
183. The reason why the people are difficult to govern is
that they are too clever. Hence to rule
a state by cleverness will be to the detriment of the state; not to rule a
state by cleverness will be a boon to the state. (Tao
Te Ching, 65.)
186. One who assists the ruler of men by means of the way
does not intimidate the empire by a show of arms. This is something which is liable to
rebound. Where troops have encamped
there will brambles grow; in the wake of a mighty army bad harvests follow
without fail. One who is good aims only
at bringing his campaign to a conclusion and dare not thereby intimidate. Bring it to a conclusion but do not boast;
birng it to a conclusion but do not brag; bring it to a conclusion but do not
be arrogant; bring it to a conclusion but only when there is no choice; bring
it to a conclusion but do not intimidate.
A creature in its prime doing harm to the old is known as going against
the way. That which goes against the way
will come to an early end. (Tao Te Ching, 30.)
188. One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does
not know. (Tao Te Ching, 56.)
190. When peace is made between great enemies, some
enmity is bound to remain undispelled.
How can this be considered perfect?
Therefore the sage takes the left-hand tally [the half held by the
creditor], but exacts no payment from the people. The man of virtue takes charge of the tally;
the man of no virtue takes charge of exaction.
It is the way of heaven to show no favoritism. It is forever on the side of the good
man. (Tao
Te Ching, 79.)
192. In ruling the people and in serving heaven it is
best for a ruler to be sparing. It is
because he is sparing that he may be said to follow the way from the start;
following the way from the start he may be said to accumulate an abundance of
virtue; accumulating an abundance of virtue there is nothing he cannot
overcome; when there is nothing he cannot overcome, no one knows his limit;
when no one knows his limit he can possess a state; when he possesses the
mother of a state he can then endure.
This is called the way of deep roots and firm stems by which one lives
to see many days. (Tao Te Ching, 59.)
Harmony
194. The world had a beginning and this beginning could
be the mother of the world. When you
know the mother go on to know the child.
After you have known the child go back to holding fast to the mother,
and to the end of your days you will not meet with danger. (Tao
Te Ching, 52.)
203. Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words
are not truthful. Good words are not
persuasive; persuasive words are not good.
He who knows has no wide learning; he who has wide learning does not
know. The sage does not hoard. Having bestowed all he has on others, he has
yet more; having given all he has to others, he is richer still. The way of heaven benefits and does not harm;
the way of the sage is bountiful and does not contend. (Tao
Te Ching, 81.)
Wisdom
221. He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his
death; he who is fearless in being timid will stay alive. Of the two, one leads to good, the other to
harm. Heaven hates what it hates. Who knows the reason why? Therefore even the sage treats some things as
difficult. The way of heaven excels in
overcoming though it does not contend, in responding though it does not speak,
in attracting though it does not summon, in laying plans though it appears slack. The net of heaven is cast wide. Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever
slips through. (Tao Te Ching, 73.)
Faith
240. There is a thing confusedly formed born before
heaven and earth. Silent and void it
stands alone and does not change, goes round and does not weary. It is capable of being the mother of the
world. I know not its name so I style it
'the way'. I give it the makeshift name
of 'the great'. Being great, it is
further described as receding, receding, it is further described as far away,
being far away, it is described as turning back
(Tao Te Ching, 25.)
248. You cannot get close to it, nor can you keep it at
arm's length; you cannot bestow benefit on it, nor can you do it harm; you
cannot ennoble it, nor can you debase it.
Therefore it is valued by the empire.
(Tao Te Ching, 56.)
Eternal Life
283. I do my utmost to attain emptiness; I hold firmly to
stillness. The myriad creatures all rise
together and I watch their return. The
teeming creatures all return to their separate roots. Returning to one's roots is known as
stillness. This is what is meant by
returning to one's destiny. Returning to
one's destiny is known as the constant.
Knowledge of the constant is known as discernment. Woe to him who wilfully innovates while
ignorant of the constant, but should one act from knowledge of the constant
one's action will lead to impartiality, impartiality to kingliness, kingliness
to heaven, heaven to the way, the way to perpetuity, and to the end of one's
days one will meet with no danger. (Tao Te Ching, 16.)
MOSES
Moses was probably born in
Sayings of Moses
Humility
8. Beware lest your heart grow haughty...and you say to
yourselves, “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for
me.” Remember that it is the Lord your
God who gives you the power to get wealth.
(Torah, Deuteronomy
8:14-20.)
Humanity
37. People do not live by bread alone,...but by
everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. (Torah,
Deuteronomy 8:3.)
Love
58. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Torah,
Leviticus 19:18.)
Compassion
77. You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to
the needy and to the poor. (Torah, Deuteronomy 15:11.)
Responsibility
85. Bear in mind that the Lord your God disciplines you
just as parents discipline their children.
Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God: walk in His ways
and revere Him. (Torah, Deuteronomy 8:5-6.)
Service
124. You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no
partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the
discerning and upset the plea of the just.
(Torah, Deuteronomy 16:19.)
Community
146. God said: “I
am the Lord your God....You shall have no other gods beside Me. You shall not make for yourself sculptured
images... and bow down to them or serve them.
You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your
God;....Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy....Honor your father and
your mother....You shall not murder....You shall not commit adultery....You
shall not steal....You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor....You shall not covet...anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Torah,
Exodus 20:2-17.)
Leadership
166. Once when I sat as magistrate among the people, my
father-in-law said, “What is this thing that you are doing to the people? Why do you act alone, while all the people
stand about you from morning until evening?”
I replied to my father-in-law, “It is because the people come to me to
inquire of God. When they have a
dispute, it comes before me, and I decide between a man and his neighbor, and I
make known the laws and teachings of God.”....But my father-in-law said to me,
“The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and
these people as well. For the task is
too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.
Now listen to me. I will give you
counsel, and God be with you! You
represent the people before God: you
bring the disputes before God, and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings,
and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to
follow. You shall also seek out from
among all the people capable ones who fear God, trustworthy ones who spurn
ill-gotten gain. Set these over the
others as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge
the people at all times. Have them bring
every major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself, and let them
share the burden with you. If you do
this -- and God so commands you -- you will be able to bear up; and all these
people too will go home unwearied.” So I
heeded my father-in-law and did just as he had said. (Torah,
Exodus 18:13-24.)
Harmony
201. The Lord will reign for ever and ever! (Torah,
Exodus 15:18.)
Wisdom
217. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Torah,
Deuteronomy 6:4-5.)
Faith
242. The Lord is my strength and might; He has become my
salvation. (Torah, Exodus, 15:2.)
Eternal Life
284. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord deal kindly and graciously with
you. The Lord bestow His favor upon you
and grant you peace. (Torah, Numbers 6:24-26.)
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad (570? - 632) is
considered by Muslims to be the last Prophet in the same tradition as Moses and
Jesus. Over a period of years, he was
inspired by God to recite the verses of the Koran, which became the fundamental
text of Islam. After founding Islam, Muhammad
also became a major political leader.
His political base was
Muhammad was born in
Muhammad became a wealthy
merchant in
Muhammad often found
solitude in a cave on the outskirts of
As Muhammad began to share
his revelations with others, his teachings initially resulted in many more
enemies than converts. In 622 a plot to
murder him was planned in
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
1. Expression of Faith: "There
is no god but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet."
2. Prayer: Be constant in prayer to keep
life in perspective.
3. Charity: Those who have much should
help lift the burden of those who are less fortunate.
4. Fasting: During the holy month of
Ramadan, able-bodied Muslims should not eat or drink between dawn and dusk.
5. Pilgrimage: Once in one's life, every
Muslim who is physically and economically in a position to do so should journey
to
Sayings of Muhammad
Humility
1. There shall be no compulsion in religion. (Koran,
2:256.)
10. I am but a mortal like yourselves. It is revealed to me that your God is one
God. Therefore take the right path to
Him and implore His forgiveness. (Koran, 41:5-8.)
12. True servants of the Merciful are those who walk
humbly on the earth;...who pass the night...in adoration of their Lord;...who
are neither extravagant nor miserly, but keep the golden mean; who invoke no
other deity besides God. (Koran, 25:64-67.)
18. Your God is one God; to Him surrender
yourselves. Give good news to the
humble, whose hearts are filled with awe at the mention of God; who endure
adversity with fortitude, attend to their prayers, and bestow in charity of
that which God has given them. (Koran, 22:34.)
Humanity
36. Each person shall reap the fruits of his own
deeds: no soul shall bear another’s
burden. In the end you shall all return
to your Lord, and He will resolve for you your disputes. (Koran,
6:164.)
43. No soul shall bear another’s burden. To God you shall all return and He will
declare to you what you have done. He
knows your inmost thoughts. (Koran, 39:8.)
45. They that commit sin commit it against their own
soul. God is all-knowing and wise. They that do evil or wrong their own soul and
then seek God’s pardon will find God forgiving and merciful. (Koran,
4:110.)
49. Your Lord will reward all people according to their
deeds. He has knowledge of all their
actions. Follow then the right path as
you are bidden, together with those who have repented with you, and do not
transgress. He is watching all your
actions....Attend to your prayers....Good deeds shall make amends for
sins. This is an admonition for
thoughtful people. Therefore have
patience; God will not deny the righteous their reward....God alone has
knowledge of what the heavens and the earth conceal; to Him all things shall be
referred. Serve Him, and put your trust
in Him. Your Lord is never heedless of
what you do. (Koran, 11:112-123.)
52. The believers are a band of brothers. Make peace among your brothers and fear God,
so that you may be shown mercy.
Believers, let no man mock another man, who may be better than
himself. Let no woman mock another
woman, who may perhaps be better than herself.
Do not defame one another,...avoid immoderate suspicion. Do not spy on one another, nor backbite one
another....Have fear of God. God is
forgiving and merciful. (Koran, 49:10-12.)
Love
64. Requite evil with good, and he who is your enemy
will become your dearest friend. But
none will attain this attribute save those who patiently endure; none will
attain it save those who are truly fortunate.
(Koran, 41:34-35.)
Compassion
75. Show kindness to parents and kindred, to orphans and
to the helpless, to near and distant neighbors, to those that keep company with
you, and to the traveller in need. (Koran, 4:36.)
78. They ask you what they should give in alms. Say:
“What you can spare.” Thus God
makes plain to you His revelations so that you may reflect upon this world and
the hereafter. (Koran, 2:220.)
80. A kind word with forgiveness is better than charity
followed by insult....Do not mar your almsgiving with taunts and mischief
making, like those who spend their wealth for the sake of ostentation....Such
people are like a rock covered with earth:
a shower falls upon it and leaves it hard and bare. They shall gain nothing from their
works....Keep your promises; you are accountable for all that you promise. Give full measure, when you measure, and
weigh with even scales. That is fair,
and better in the end. Do not follow
what you do not know....Do not walk proudly on the earth. (Koran,
2:263; 17:32-38.)
82. Do not wrong the orphan, nor chide away the beggar,
but proclaim the goodness of your Lord.
Every hardship is followed by ease….
When your prayers are ended resume your toil, and seek your Lord with
all fervor. (Koran, 93:10-94:8.)
84. In God let the faithful put their trust....Your
wealth and your children are but a temptation.
God’s reward is great. Therefore
fear God with all your hearts, and be attentive, obedient, and charitable. That will be best for you....Those that
preserve themselves from their own greed will surely prosper....Gracious is
God, and benign. He has knowledge of the
unknown and the manifest. He is the
Mighty, the Wise One. (Koran, 64:12-18.)
Responsibility
92. God’s guidance is the only guidance. We are commanded to surrender ourselves to
the Lord of the Universe, to pray, and to fear Him....It was He who created the
heavens and the earth in all truth....His word is the truth....He has knowledge
of the unknown and the manifest. He
alone is wise and all-knowing. (Koran, 6:72.)
99. Do not swear:
your obedience, not your oaths, will count. God is aware of all your actions. (Koran,
24:53.)
105. If a misfortune befalls you, it is the fruit of your
own labors. God forgives much....He
accepts the repentance of His servants, and pardons their sins. He has knowledge of all your actions. (Koran,
42:25,31.)
116. Wealth and children are the ornament of this
life. But deeds of lasting merit are
better rewarded by your Lord and hold for you a greater hope of salvation. (Koran,
18:46.)
Service
126. Serve your Lord, who has created you and those who
have gone before you,...who has made earth a bed for you and the sky a dome,
and has sent down water from the sky to bring forth fruits for your
sustenance. (Koran, 2:20.)
Community
145. God sends apostles only to proclaim good news and to
give warning. But with false arguments
unbelievers seek to confute the truth, scoffing at God’s revelations and His
warnings. (Koran, 18:56.)
149. True servants of the Merciful...do not commit
adultery. People who do this shall meet
with evil...unless they repent and believe and do good works, for then God will
change their sins to good actions: God
is forgiving and merciful. (Koran, 25:64,68.)
158. This present life is like the rich garment with
which the earth adorns itself when watered by the rain God sends down from the
sky. Crops, sustaining people and
beasts, grow luxuriantly: but, as its
tenants begin to think themselves its masters, down comes God’s scourge upon
it, by night or in broad day, laying it to waste, as though it did not blossom
but yesterday. Thus does God make plain
His revelations to thoughtful people.
God invites you to the Home of Peace.
He guides whom He will to a straight path. (Koran,
10:24.)
160. Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts; He
knows if you are good. He will forgive
those that turn to Him. Give to the near
of kin their due, and also to the destitute and to the wayfarers. Do not squander your substance
wastefully....If, while waiting for your Lord’s bounty, you lack the means to
assist them, then at least speak to them kindly. Be neither miserly nor prodigal, for then you
will either be reproached or be reduced to poverty. Your Lord gives abundantly to whom He will
and sparingly to whom He pleases. He
knows and observes His servants. (Koran, 17:25-30.)
162. True servants of the Merciful do not bear false
witness, they maintain their dignity when listening to profane abuse; they do
not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the revelations of their Lord when they
are reminded of them; they say: “Lord,
give us joy in our wives and children, and make us examples to those who fear
You.” These shall be rewarded for their
fortitude with the loftiest home in
Leadership
167. Did you suppose that you would go to
Harmony
200. Remember your Lord deep in your soul with humility
and reverence, and without ostentation. (Koran, 7:205.)
202. Some wrangle about God, though they have neither
knowledge nor guidance nor divine revelation.
They turn away in scorn and lead others astray from God’s path....Some
profess to serve God and yet stand on the very fringe of the true faith. When blessed with good fortune they are
content, but when an ordeal befalls them they turn upon their heels, forfeiting
this life and the hereafter....They call on that which can neither harm nor
help them. That is the supreme
folly. (Koran, 22:8-14.)
Wisdom
216. Know that God has knowledge of all your
thoughts. Therefore take heed and bear
in mind that God is forgiving and lenient.
(Koran, 2:235.)
225. Impatience is the very stuff man is made of. (Koran,
21:38.)
228. Restrain yourself, together with those who pray to
their Lord morning and evening, seeking His pleasure. Do not turn your eyes away from them in quest
of the good things of this life, nor obey those who follow their appetites and
give a loose rein to their desires. (Koran, 18:28.)
232. Do not say of anything: “I will do it tomorrow,” without adding: “If God wills.” When you forget, remember your Lord and say: “May God guide me and bring me nearer to the
Truth....” Those who repent and mend
their ways, who hold fast to God and are sincere in their devotion to God --
they shall be numbered with the faithful, and the faithful shall be richly rewarded
by God. And why should God punish you if
you render thanks to Him and truly believe in Him? God will reward your labors, for He knows
them all. (Koran, 18:25; 4:146-147.)
Faith
239. Who has a nobler religion than the one who
surrenders to God and does what is right?...To God belongs all that the heavens
and the earth contain. God has knowledge
of all things. (Koran, 4:125.)
247. All that is in heaven and earth gives glory to
God. He is the Mighty, the Wise
One. It is He that has sovereignty over
the heavens and the earth. He ordains life
and death, and has power over all things.
He is the First and the Last, the Visible and the Unseen. He has knowledge of all things....He is with
you wherever you are. He knows all of
your actions....To God shall all things return....He has knowledge of the
inmost thoughts of people. (Koran, 57:1-6.)
253. Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe, the
Compassionate, the Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Judgment! You alone we worship, and to You alone we
turn for help. Guide us to the straight
path, the path of those whom You have favored, not of those who have incurred
Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray....God is the Creator of the
heavens and the earth....He created all things and has knowledge of all
things....There is no god but Him. He is
the Guardian of all things....No mortal eyes can see Him, though He sees all
eyes. He is benign and all-knowing. (Koran,
1:1-7; 6:11-103.)
260. The true believers are those whose hearts are filled
with awe at the mention of God, and whose faith grows stronger as they listen
to His revelations. They are those who
put their trust in their Lord, pray steadfastly, and bestow in alms from that
which God has given them. Such are the
true believers. (Koran, 8:2.)
263. God sent forth Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming
the Torah already revealed, and gave
him the Gospel in which there is guidance and light, corroborating what was
revealed before it in the Torah, a
guide and an admonition to the righteous.
Therefore let those who follow the Gospel judge according to what God
has revealed therein. (Koran, 5:46.)
265. One day God will gather all the apostles and ask
them: “How were you received?” They will reply: “We have no knowledge. You alone know what is hidden.”...Then God
will say: “Jesus, son of Mary, did you
ever say to mankind: “Worship me and my
mother as gods beside God?”...“Glory to You,” he will answer, “how could I ever
say that to which I have no right? If I
had ever said so, You would have surely known it. You know what is in my mind, but I know not
what is in Yours. You alone know what is
hidden. I told them only what you bade
me. I said: ‘Serve God, my Lord and your Lord.” (Koran,
5:109-118.)
267. Speak nothing but the truth about God. The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was no more
than God’s apostle....So believe in God and His apostles and do not say: “Three.”
Forbear, and it shall be better for you.
God is but one God....His is all that the heavens and the earth
contain. God is the all-sufficient
protector. The Messiah does not disdain
to be a servant of God. (Koran, 4:171-173.)
269. The duty of the Apostle is only to give
warning. God knows all that you hide and
all that you reveal. (Koran, 5:99.)
271. It is God who enriches and makes poor. To Him you shall all return. (Koran,
2:245.)
273. God makes this comparison. There are two men: the one has many masters who are ever at odds
among themselves; the other has one master, to whom he is devoted. Are these two to be held alike? God be praised! (Koran,
39:29.)
275. God created you, and He will reclaim you
hereafter. Some shall have their lives
prolonged to abject old age, when all that they once knew they shall know no
more. All-knowing is God, and
mighty....The ignorant ask: “Why does
God not speak to us or give us a sign?”
The same demand was made by those before them: their hearts are all alike. But to those whose faith is firm God has
already revealed His signs. (Koran, 16:71; 2:118.)
Eternal Life
281. The life of this world is but a sport and a
pastime. It is the life to come that is
the true life....No mortal knows what he will earn tomorrow; no mortal knows
where he will breathe his last. God
alone is wise and all-knowing. (Koran, 29:64; 31:35.)
SOCRATES
Socrates (470? - 399 B.C.E.)
was a Greek philosopher born in
Socrates lived by his
principles, even when they cost him his life.
In 399 B.C.E. he was brought to trial for corrupting youth and for
religious heresies. He lost the trial
and was sentenced to death. Although he
had the opportunity to escape, he refused to do this, and apparently died
without regret. His student, Plato,
recorded his teachings in a series of written dialogues. It is not known to what extent Plato's
writings accurately reflect the historical Socrates and to what extent they are
Plato's own creation.
Sayings of Socrates
Humility
6. We should recognize that we ourselves are still
intellectual invalids; but that we must brace ourselves and do our best to
become healthy. (Phaedo, 90.)
9. As for you, if you will take my advice, you will
think very little of Socrates, and much more of the truth. If you think that anything I say is true, you
must agree with me; if not, oppose it with every argument that you have. You must not allow me, in my enthusiasm, to
deceive both myself and you, and leave my sting behind when I fly away. (Phaedo,
91.)
15. One day a friend of mine went to
Humanity
35. A system of morality which is based on relative
emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has
nothing sound in it and nothing true. The
true moral ideal, whether self-control or integrity or courage, is really a
kind of purgation from all these emotions, and wisdom itself is a sort of
purification. (Phaedo, 69.)
54. You know how, in an argument, people who have no
real education care nothing for the facts of the case, and are only anxious to
get their point of view accepted by the audience? (Phaedo,
90.)
Love
60. No soul which has not practiced philosophy, and is
not absolutely pure when it leaves the body, may attain to the divine nature;
that is only for the lover of wisdom. (Phaedo, 82.)
Compassion
72. Every seeker after wisdom knows that up to the time
when philosophy takes it over his soul is a helpless prisoner, chained hand and
foot in the body, compelled to view reality not directly but only through its
prison bars, and wallowing in utter ignorance.
And philosophy can see that the imprisonment is ingeniously effected by
the prisoner's own active desire, which makes him first accessory to his own
confinement. Well, philosophy takes over
the soul in this condition and by gentle persuasion tries to set it free. (Phaedo, 83.)
Responsibility
89. I believe that this much is true: that the gods are
our keepers, and we people are one of their possessions….We must not put an end
to ourselves until God sends some compulsion.
(Phaedo, 62.)
96. For one who is not pure himself to attain to the
realm of purity would no doubt be a breach of universal justice. (Phaedo,
67.)
104. I once heard someone reading from a book…asserting
that it is Mind that produces order and is the cause of everything. This explanation pleased me. Somehow it seemed right that Mind should be
the cause of everything; and I reflected that if this is so, Mind in producing
order sets everything in order and arranges each individual thing in the way
that is best for it….On this view there was only one thing for one to consider
with regard both to oneself and to anything else, namely the best and highest
good. (Phaedo, 98.)
110. So if you see anyone distressed at the prospect of
dying…it will be proof enough that he is a lover not of wisdom but of the
body. As a matter of fact, I suppose he
is also a lover of wealth and reputation; one or the other, or both. (Phaedo,
68.)
117. If the soul is immortal, it demands our care not
only for that part of time which we call life, but for all time; and indeed it
would seem now that it will be extremely dangerous to neglect it. If death were a release from everything, it
would be a boon for the wicked, because by dying they would be released not
only from the body but also from their own wickedness together with the soul;
but as it is, since the soul is clearly immortal, it can have no escape or
security from evil except by becoming as good and wise as it possibly can. For it takes nothing with it to the next
world except its education and training; and these, we are told, are of supreme
importance in helping or harming the newly dead at the very beginning of his
journey there. (Phaedo, 107.)
Service
123. I have often had the same dream, appearing in
different forms at different times, but always saying the same thing: "Socrates, practice and cultivate the
arts." (Phaedo, 60.)
Community
143. Even if you find our original assumptions
convincing, they still need more accurate consideration. If you and your friends examine them closely
enough, I believe that you will arrive at the truth of the matter, in so far as
it is possible for the human mind to attain it; and if you are sure that you
have done this, you will not need to inquire further. (Phaedo,
107.)
150. Do you think that it is right for a philosopher to
concern himself with the nominal pleasures connected with food and drink?…What
about sexual pleasures?…And what about all the other attentions that we pay to
our bodies? Do you think that a
philosopher attaches any importance to them?
I mean things like providing himself with smart clothes and shoes and
other bodily ornaments;….Then it is your opinion in general that a man of this
kind is not concerned with the body, but keeps his attention directed as much
as he can away from it and towards the soul?
(Phaedo, 65.)
152. By keeping ourselves uncontaminated by the follies
of the body, we shall probably reach the company of others like ourselves and
gain direct knowledge of all that is pure and uncontaminated -- that is,
presumably, of Truth. (Phaedo, 67.)
154. All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of
wealth; and the reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we
are slaves in its service. That is why,
on all these accounts, we have so little time for philosophy. Worst of all, if we do obtain any leisure
from the body's claims and turn to some line of inquiry, the body intrudes once
more into our investigations, interrupting, disturbing, distracting, and preventing
us from getting a glimpse of the truth. (Phaedo, 66.)
Leadership
170. When soul and body are both in the same place,
nature teaches the one to serve and be subject, the other to rule and
govern. In this relation which do you
think resembles the divine and which the mortal part? Don't you think that it is the nature of the
divine to rule and direct, and that of the mortal to be subject and serve? (Phaedo,
80.)
Harmony
197. So long as we keep to the body and our soul is
contaminated with this imperfection, there is no chance of our ever attaining
satisfactorily to our object, which we assert to be Truth. In the first place, the body provides us with
innumerable distractions in the pursuit of our necessary sustenance; and any
diseases which attack us hinder our quest for reality. Besides, the body fills us with loves and
desires and fears and all sorts of fancies and a great deal of nonsense. (Phaedo,
66.)
208. There is one way, then, in which one can be free
from all anxiety about the fate of the soul; if in life he has abandoned bodily
pleasures and adornments, as foreign to his purpose and likely to do more harm
than good, and has devoted himself to the pleasures of acquiring knowledge; and
so by decking his soul not with a borrowed beauty but with its own -- with
self-control, and goodness, and courage, and liberality, and truth -- has
fitted himself to await his journey to the next world. (Phaedo,
115.)
Wisdom
214. Did we not say some time ago that when the soul uses
the instrumentality of the body for any inquiry, whether through sight or
hearing or any other sense…it is drawn away by the body into the realm of the
variable, and loses its way and becomes confused and dizzy, as though it were
fuddled, through contact with things of a similar nature? But when it investigates by itself, it passes
into the realm of the pure and everlasting and immortal and changeless; and
being of a kindred nature, when it is once independent and free from
interference, consorts with it always and strays no longer, but remains in that
realm of the absolute, constant and invariable, through contact with beings of
a similar nature. And this condition of
the soul we call Wisdom. (Phaedo, 80.)
222. True philosophers make dying their profession,…to
them of all people death is least alarming….If they are thoroughly dissatisfied
with the body, and long to have their soul independent of it, when this happens
would it not be entirely unreasonable to be frightened and distressed? Would they not naturally be glad to set out
for the place where there is a prospect of attaining the object of their
lifelong desire, which is Wisdom? (Phaedo, 68.)
226. It is wisdom that makes possible courage and
self-control and integrity. (Phaedo, 69.)
230. It seems that so long as we are alive, we shall
continue closest to knowledge if we avoid as much as we can all contact and
association with the body, except when they are absolutely necessary; and
instead of allowing ourselves to become infected with its nature, purify
ourselves from it until God himself gives us deliverance. (Phaedo,
67.)
Faith
241. I want to explain to you how it seems to me natural
that one who has really devoted his life to philosophy should be cheerful in
the face of death, and confident of finding the greatest blessing in the next
world when his life is finished. (Phaedo, 64.)
252. Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who
really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of
their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death. If this is true, and they have actually been
looking forward to death all their lives, it would of course be absurd to be
troubled when the thing comes for which they have so long been preparing and
looking forward. (Phaedo, 64.)
255. You are afraid, as children are, that when the soul
emerges from the body the wind may really puff it away and scatter it. (Phaedo,
77.)
258. A philosopher's soul…secures immunity from its
desires by following Reason and abiding always in her company, and by
contemplating the true and divine and unconjecturable, and drawing inspiration
from it; because such a soul believes that this is the right way to live while
life endures, and that after death it reaches a place which is kindred and
similar to its own nature, and there is rid forever of human ills. After such a training…the soul can have no
grounds for fearing that on its separation from the body it will be blown away
and scattered by the winds, and so disappear into thin air, and cease to exist
altogether. (Phaedo, 84.)
261. What sort of thing is it that would naturally suffer
the fate of being dispersed?…Is it not extremely probable that what is always
constant and invariable is incomposite, and what is inconstant and variable is
composite?…So you think that we should assume two classes of things, one
visible and the other invisible?…The invisible being invariable, and the
visible never being the same?…So soul is more like the invisible, and body more
like the visible? (Phaedo, 79.)
Eternal Life
277. I suppose that for one who
is soon to leave this world there is no more suitable occupation than inquiring
into our views about the future life, and trying to imagine what it is
like. What else can one do in the time
before sunset? (Phaedo, 61.)
286. If I did not expect to enter
the company, first, of wise and good gods, and secondly of people now dead who
are better than those who are in this world now, it is true that I should be
wrong in not grieving at death. As it
is, you can be assured that I expect to find myself among good people; I would
not insist particularly on this point, but on the other I assure you that I
shall insist most strongly: that I shall find there divine masters who are
supremely good. That is why I am not so much
distressed as I might be, and why I have a firm hope that there is something in
store for those who have died, and (as we have been told for many years)
something much better for the good than for the wicked. (Phaedo,
63.)
288. Is not what we call death a freeing and separation
of soul from body?…And the desire to free the soul is found chiefly, or rather
only, in the true philosopher; in fact the philosopher's occupation consists
precisely in the freeing and separation of soul from body. (Phaedo,
68.)
292. Do we believe that there is such a thing as
death?…Is it simply the release of the soul from the body? Is death nothing more or less than this, the
separate condition of the body by itself when it is released from the soul, and
the separate condition by itself of the soul when released from the body? Is death anything else than this? (Phaedo,
64.)
294. Of course you know that when a person dies, although
it is natural for the visible and physical part of him, which lies here in the
visible world and which we call his corpse, to decay and fall to pieces and be
dissipated, none of this happens to it immediately….But the soul, the invisible
part, which goes away to a place that is, like itself, glorious, pure, and
invisible…into the presence of the good and wise God…will it, if its very nature
is such as I have described, be dispersed and destroyed at the moment of its
release from the body, as is the popular view?
Far from it….The truth is much more like this: if at its release the
soul is pure and carries with it no contamination of the body…in other words,
if it has pursued philosophy in the right way and really practiced how to face
death easily…then it departs to that place which is, like itself, invisible,
divine, immortal and wise; where, on its arrival, happiness awaits it, and release
from uncertainty and folly, from fears and uncontrolled desires, and all other
human evils; and where…it really spends the rest of time with God. (Phaedo,
81.)
298. I imagine that it would be
admitted by everyone…that God at any rate, and the Form of life, and anything
else that is immortal, can never cease to exist….That since what is immortal is
also indestructible, if soul is really immortal, surely it must be imperishable
too….So it appears that when death comes to one, the mortal part of him dies,
but the immortal part retires at the approach of death and escapes unharmed and
indestructible….Then it is as certain as anything can be…that soul is immortal
and imperishable, and that our souls will really exist in the next world. (Phaedo,
107.)
PART II:
THE THEMES
Humility
1. Muhammad:
There
shall be no compulsion in religion. (Koran, 2:256.)
2. Lao Tzu:
Highest
good is like water. Because water excels
in benefiting the myriad creatures without contending with them and settles
where none would like to be, it comes close to the way. (Tao
Te Ching, 8.)
3. Jesus:
The
greatest among you must be your servant.
Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled and anyone who humbles
himself will be raised up. (Bible, Matthew 23:11-12.)
4. Buddha:
Look
to your own faults, what you have done or left undone. Overlook the faults of others. (Dhammapada,
4.)
5.
6. Socrates: We should recognize that we ourselves are
still intellectual invalids; but that we must brace ourselves and do our best
to become healthy. (Phaedo, 90.)
7. Confucius: I make no claims to wisdom or to human perfection --
how would I dare? Still, my aim remains
unflagging and I never tire of teaching people.
(Analects, 7:34.)
8. Moses:
Beware
lest your heart grow haughty...and you say to yourselves, “My own power and the
might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.” Remember that it is the Lord your God who
gives you the power to get wealth. (Torah, Deuteronomy 8:14-20.)
9. Socrates: As for you, if you will take my advice, you
will think very little of Socrates, and much more of the truth. If you think that anything I say is true, you
must agree with me; if not, oppose it with every argument that you have. You must not allow me, in my enthusiasm, to
deceive both myself and you, and leave my sting behind when I fly away. (Phaedo,
91.)
10. Muhammad:
I am
but a mortal like yourselves. It is
revealed to me that your God is one God.
Therefore take the right path to Him and implore His forgiveness. (Koran,
41:5-8.)
11. Jesus:
Why
do you call me good? No one is good but
God alone....By myself I can do nothing; I can judge only as I am told to
judge, and my judging is just, because I seek to do not my will but the will of
him who sent me. Were I to testify on my
own behalf, my testimony would not be true.
(Bible, Mark 10:18, John
5:30-31.)
12. Muhammad:
True
servants of the Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth;...who pass the
night...in adoration of their Lord;...who are neither extravagant nor miserly,
but keep the golden mean; who invoke no other deity besides God. (Koran,
25:64-67.)
13. Jesus:
Anyone
who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me,
welcomes the one who sent me. The least
among you all is the one who is the greatest.
(Bible, Luke 9:48.)
14. Lao Tzu:
To
know yet to think that one does not know is best; not to know yet to think that
one knows will lead to difficulty. It is
by being alive to difficulty that one can avoid it. The sage meets with no difficulty. It is because he is alive to it that he meets
with no difficulty. (Tao Te Ching, 71.)
15. Socrates: One
day a friend of mine went to
16. Confucius:
I
transmit, I invent nothing. I trust and
love the past....Am I knowledgeable?
No. A bumpkin asked me a
question, and my mind went blank. Still,
I hammered at his problem from all sides, till I worked out something....I
never denied my teaching to anyone who sought it, even if he was too poor to
offer more than a token present for his tuition. (Analects,
7.1; 9.8; 7.7.)
17. Jesus:
It
is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick...I came to call not the
upright, but sinners. (Bible, Matthew 9:12.)
18. Muhammad:
Your
God is one God; to Him surrender yourselves.
Give good news to the humble, whose hearts are filled with awe at the
mention of God; who endure adversity with fortitude, attend to their prayers,
and bestow in charity of that which God has given them. (Koran,
22:34.)
19. Jesus:
There
will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over
ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance. (Bible,
Luke 15:7.)
20. Lao Tzu:
In
the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and
strong nothing can surpass it….That the weak overcomes the strong, and the
submissive overcomes the hard, everyone in the world knows yet no one can put
this knowledge into practice….Straightforward words seem paradoxical. (Tao
Te Ching, 78.)
21. Jesus:
Blessed
are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance. (Bible,
Matthew 5:4.)
22. Lao Tzu:
A
large state is the lower reaches of a river -- the place where all the streams
of the world unite. In the union of the
world, the female always gets the better of the male by stillness. Being still, she takes the lower
position. Hence the large state, by
taking the lower position, annexes the small state; the small state, by taking
the lower position, affiliates itself to the large state. Thus the one, by taking the lower position,
annexes; the other, by taking the lower position, is annexed. All that the large state wants is to take the
other under its wing; all that the small state wants is to have its services
accepted by the other. If each of the
two wants to find its proper place, it is meet that the large should take the
lower postion. (Tao Te Ching, 61.)
23. Jesus:
Many
who are first will be last, and the last, first. (Bible,
Matthew 19:30.)
24. Confucius:
A
gentleman abides by three principles which I am unable to follow: his humanity
knows no anxiety; his wisdom knows no hesitation; his courage knows no
fear. (Analects, 14:28.)
25. Jesus:
Two
men went up to the
26. Lao Tzu:
The
reason why the River and the Sea are able to be king of the hundred valleys is
that they excel in taking the lower position.
Hence they are able to be king of the hundred valleys. Therefore, desiring to rule over the people,
one must in one's words humble oneself before them; and, desiring to lead the
people, one must, in one's person, follow behind them. Therefore the sage takes his place over the
people yet is no burden; takes his place ahead of the people yet causes no
obstruction. That is why the empire
supports him joyfully and never tires of doing so. It is because he does not contend that no one
in the empire is in a position to contend with him. (Tao
Te Ching, 66.)
27. Jesus:
It
is not anyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the
28. Confucius:
If
you offend Heaven, prayer is useless. (Analects, 3:13.)
29. Lao Tzu: One who excels as a warrior does not appear
formidable; one who excels in fighting is never roused in anger; one who excels
in defeating his enemy does not join issue; one who excels in employing others
humbles himself before them. This is
known as the virtue of non-contention; this is known as making use of the
efforts of others; this is known as matching the sublimity of heaven. (Tao
Teh Ching, 68.)
30. Jesus: I bless you, Father, Lord of
heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever
and revealing them to little children.
Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. (Bible,
Matthew 11:25-26.)
Humanity
31. Confucius:
What
you do not wish for yourself, do not impose upon others. (Analects,
12.2.)
32. Jesus: Always treat others as you
would like them to treat you. (Bible,
Matthew 7:12.)
33. Buddha:
It
is better to do nothing than to do what is wrong. For whatever you do, you do to yourself. (Dhammapada,
22.)
34.
35. Socrates: A
system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere
illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and
nothing true. The true moral ideal,
whether self-control or integrity or courage, is really a kind of purgation
from all these emotions, and wisdom itself is a sort of purification. (Phaedo,
69.)
36. Muhammad:
Each
person shall reap the fruits of his own deeds:
no soul shall bear another’s burden.
In the end you shall all return to your Lord, and He will resolve for
you your disputes. (Koran, 6:164.)
37. Moses: People do not live by bread
alone,...but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. (Torah,
Deuteronomy 8:3.)
38. Lao Tzu:
Man
models himself on earth, earth on heaven, heaven on the way, and the way on
that which is naturally so. (Tao Te Ching, 25.)
39. Confucius:
A
man who respects his parents and his elders would hardly be inclined to defy
his superiors. A man who is not inclined
to defy his superiors will never foment a rebellion. A gentleman works at the root. Once the root is secured, the Way
unfolds. To respect parents and elders
is the root of humanity. (Analects, 1:2.)
40. Jesus: Be compassionate just as
your Father is compassionate. Do not
judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be
condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and there will be gifts for you:
a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be
poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used
for you. (Bible, Luke 6:36-38.)
41. Confucius:
Whoever
could spread the five practices everywhere in the world would implement
humanity….Courtesy, tolerance, good faith, diligence, generosity. Courtesy wards off insults; tolerance wins
all hearts; good faith inspires the trust of others; diligence ensures success;
generosity confers authority upon others.
(Analects, 17.6.)
42. Jesus: Blessed are the
merciful: they shall have mercy shown
them. Blessed are the pure in
heart: they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of
God. (Bible,
Matthew 5:7-9.)
43. Muhammad:
No
soul shall bear another’s burden. To God
you shall all return and He will declare to you what you have done. He knows your inmost thoughts. (Koran,
39:8.)
44. Confucius:
Your
faults define you. From your very faults
one can know your quality....Seeking to achieve humanity leaves no room for
evil. (Analects, 4.7, 4.4.)
45. Muhammad:
They
that commit sin commit it against their own soul. God is all-knowing and wise. They that do evil or wrong their own soul and
then seek God’s pardon will find God forgiving and merciful. (Koran,
4:110.)
46. Jesus: Stay awake, because you do
not know the day when your master is coming.
(Bible, Matthew 24:42.)
47. Confucius:
Find
out why a man acts, observe how he acts, and examine where he finds peace. Is there anything he could still hide?...A
gentleman who lacks gravity has no authority and his learning will remain
shallow. A gentleman puts loyalty and
faithfulness foremost….When he commits a fault, he is not afraid to amend his
ways. (Analects, 2.10; 1.8.)
48. Jesus: Everything you ask and pray
for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive
whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father in heaven may forgive
your failings too. (Bible, Mark 11:24-25.)
49. Muhammad:
Your
Lord will reward all people according to their deeds. He has knowledge of all their actions. Follow then the right path as you are bidden,
together with those who have repented with you, and do not transgress. He is watching all your actions....Attend to
your prayers....Good deeds shall make amends for sins. This is an admonition for thoughtful
people. Therefore have patience; God
will not deny the righteous their reward....God alone has knowledge of what the
heavens and the earth conceal; to Him all things shall be referred. Serve Him, and put your trust in Him. Your Lord is never heedless of what you
do. (Koran,
11:112-123.)
50. Buddha:
To
be a mother is sweet, and a father. It
is sweet to live arduously, and to master yourself. O how sweet it is to enjoy life, living in
honesty and strength! And wisdom is
sweet, and freedom. (Dhammapada, 23.)
51. Jesus: Anyone who does the will of
God, that person is my brother and sister and mother. (Bible,
Mark 3:35.)
52. Muhammad:
The
believers are a band of brothers. Make
peace among your brothers and fear God, so that you may be shown mercy. Believers, let no man mock another man, who
may be better than himself. Let no woman
mock another woman, who may perhaps be better than herself. Do not defame one another,...avoid immoderate
suspicion. Do not spy on one another,
nor backbite one another....Have fear of God.
God is forgiving and merciful. (Koran, 49:10-12.)
53. Confucius:
It
is beautiful to live amidst humanity. To
choose a dwelling place destitute of humanity is hardly wise....To study
without thinking is futile. To think
without studying is dangerous....The love of humanity without the love of
learning degenerates into silliness. The
love of intelligence without the love of learning degenerates into
frivolity. The love of chivalry without
the love of learning degenerates into banditry.
The love of frankness without the love of learning degenerates into
brutality. The love of valor without the
love of learning degenerates into violence.
The love of force without the love of learning degenerates into anarchy. (Analects,
4.1; 2.15; 17.8.)
54. Socrates: You
know how, in an argument, people who have no real education care nothing for
the facts of the case, and are only anxious to get their point of view accepted
by the audience? (Phaedo, 90.)
55. Lao Tzu:
When
the best student hears about the way he practices it assiduously; when the average
student hears about the way it seems to him one moment there and gone the next;
when the worst student hears about the way he laughs out loud. If he did not laugh it would be unworthy of
being the way….The way that is bright seems dull; the way that leads forward
seems to lead backward; the way that is even seems rough. The highest virtue is like the valley; the
sheerest whiteness seems sullied; ample virtue seems defective; vigorous virtue
seems indolent; plain virtue seems soiled....The way conceals itself in being
nameless. It is the way alone that
excels in bestowing and in accomplishing.
(Tao Te Ching, 41.)
56. Confucius: Set your heart upon the way;
rely upon moral power; follow goodness; enjoy the arts. (Analects,
7:6.
Love
57. Jesus:
If
you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my
Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be
complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. No one can have greater love than to lay down
his life for his friends. (Bible, John 15:10-13.)
58. Moses:
Love
your neighbor as yourself. (Torah, Leviticus 19:18.)
59.
60. Socrates: No
soul which has not practiced philosophy, and is not absolutely pure when it
leaves the body, may attain to the divine nature; that is only for the lover of
wisdom. (Phaedo, 82.)
61. Confucius:
At
home, a young man must respect his parents; abroad, he must respect his
elders. He should talk little, but with
good faith; love all people, but associate with the virtuous. Having done this, if he still has energy to
spare, let him study literature. (Analects, 1.6.)
62. Lao Tzu:
It
is because you do not press down on [people] that they will not weary of the
burden. Hence the sage knows himself but
does not display himself, loves himself but does not exalt himself. (Tao
Te Ching, 72.)
63. Buddha:
In
this world, hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate. This is
the law, ancient and inexhaustible. (Dhammapada, 1.)
64. Muhammad:
Requite
evil with good, and he who is your enemy will become your dearest friend. But none will attain this attribute save
those who patiently endure; none will attain it save those who are truly
fortunate. (Koran, 41:34-35.)
65. Jesus:
Love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children
of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as
the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. (Bible,
Matthew 5:44-45.)
66. Buddha:
Live
in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace, even among the
troubled....The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers. Let go of winning and losing and find
joy....Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment, know the sweet
joy of the way....Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the awakened, the
loving, for they know how to work and forbear.
(Dhammapada, 15.)
67. Jesus:
I
say this to you who are listening: Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who treat you badly. To anyone
who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well;....Treat others as
you would like people to treat you....You will have a great reward, and you
will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and
the wicked....You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind. This
is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second resembles it: You must
love your neighbor as yourself. On these
two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too. (Bible,
Luke 6:27-35; Matthew 22:36-40.)
68. Buddha:
It
is the beginning of life, of mastery and patience, of good friends along the
way, of a pure and active life. So live
in love. Do your work. Make an end of your sorrows....Quieten your
body. Quieten your mind. You want nothing. Your words are still. You are still. By your own efforts waken yourself, watch
yourself. And live joyfully. You are the master, you are the refuge. How gladly you follow the words of the
awakened. How quietly, how surely you
approach the happy country, the heart of stillness. However young, the seeker who sets out upon
the way shines bright over the world. (Dhammapada, 25.)
69. Jesus:
You
will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps
them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and reveal myself to him....I am the light of the world;
anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light
of life. (Bible, John 14:20-21; 8:12.)
Compassion
70. Buddha:
All
beings tremble before violence. All fear
death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do? He who seeks happiness by hurting those who
seek happiness will never find happiness.
For your brother is like you. He
wants to be happy. Never harm him, and
when you leave this life you too will find happiness. (Dhammapada,
10.)
71. Lao Tzu:
I
have three treasures which I hold and cherish.
The first is known as compassion, the second is known as frugality, the
third is known as not daring to take the lead in the empire….Now, to forsake
compassion for courage, to forsake frugality for expansion, to forsake the rear
for the lead, is sure to end in death.
Through compassion, one will triumph in attack and be impregnable in
defence. What heaven succors it protects
with the gift of compassion. (Tao Te Ching, 67.)
72. Socrates: Every
seeker after wisdom knows that up to the time when philosophy takes it over his
soul is a helpless prisoner, chained hand and foot in the body, compelled to
view reality not directly but only through its prison bars, and wallowing in
utter ignorance. And philosophy can see
that the imprisonment is ingeniously effected by the prisoner's own active
desire, which makes him first accessory to his own confinement. Well, philosophy takes over the soul in this
condition and by gentle persuasion tries to set it free. (Phaedo, 83.)
73. Jesus:
If
you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your
brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar,
go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present
your offering. (Bible, Matthew 5:23-24.)
74. Confucius:
What
is done is done, it is all past; there would be no point in arguing. (Analects,
3.21.)
75. Muhammad:
Show
kindness to parents and kindred, to orphans and to the helpless, to near and
distant neighbors, to those that keep company with you, and to the traveller in
need. (Koran, 4:36.)
76.
77. Moses:
You
shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor. (Torah,
Deuteronomy 15:11.)
78. Muhammad:
They
ask you what they should give in alms.
Say: “What you can spare.” Thus God makes plain to you His revelations
so that you may reflect upon this world and the hereafter. (Koran,
2:220.)
79. Lao Tzu:
The
way is the refuge for the myriad creatures.
It is that by which the good man protects, and that by which the bad is
protected….Even if a man is not good, why should he be abandoned? (Tao
Teh Ching, 62.)
80. Muhammad:
A
kind word with forgiveness is better than charity followed by insult....Do not
mar your almsgiving with taunts and mischief making, like those who spend their
wealth for the sake of ostentation....Such people are like a rock covered with
earth: a shower falls upon it and leaves
it hard and bare. They shall gain
nothing from their works....Keep your promises; you are accountable for all
that you promise. Give full measure,
when you measure, and weigh with even scales.
That is fair, and better in the end.
Do not follow what you do not know....Do not walk proudly on the
earth. (Koran, 2:263; 17:32-38.)
81. Jesus:
Why
do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the great
log in your own?...Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will
see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. (Bible,
Matthew 7:3-5.)
82. Muhammad:
Do
not wrong the orphan, nor chide away the beggar, but proclaim the goodness of
your Lord. Every hardship is followed by
ease…. When your prayers are ended
resume your toil, and seek your Lord with all fervor. (Koran,
93:10-94:8.)
83. Jesus:
Let
the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone. (Bible,
John 8:7.)
84. Muhammad:
In
God let the faithful put their trust....Your wealth and your children are but a
temptation. God’s reward is great. Therefore fear God with all your hearts, and
be attentive, obedient, and charitable.
That will be best for you....Those that preserve themselves from their
own greed will surely prosper....Gracious is God, and benign. He has knowledge of the unknown and the
manifest. He is the Mighty, the Wise
One. (Koran,
64:12-18.)
Responsibility
85. Moses:
Bear
in mind that the Lord your God disciplines you just as parents discipline their
children. Therefore keep the
commandments of the Lord your God: walk in His ways and revere Him. (Torah,
Deuteronomy 8:5-6.)
86.
87. Jesus:
When
someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person;
when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be
expected. (Bible, Luke 12:48.)
88. Confucius:
In a
country where the Way prevails, it is shameful to remain poor and obscure; in a
country which has lost the Way, it is shameful to become rich and honored. (Analects,
8.13.)
89. Socrates: I
believe that this much is true: that the gods are our keepers, and we people
are one of their possessions….We must not put an end to ourselves until God
sends some compulsion. (Phaedo, 62.)
90. Lao Tzu:
The
sage always excels in saving people, and so abandons no one….This is called
following one's discernment. Hence the
good man is the teacher the bad learns from; and the bad man is the material
the good works on. Not to value the teacher
nor to love the material, though it seems clever, betrays great
bewilderment. This is called the
essential and the secret. (Tao Te Ching, 27.)
91. Buddha:
It
is you who must make the effort. The
masters only point the way. Everything
arises and passes away. When you see
this, you are above sorrow. This is the
shining way. Master your words. Master your thoughts. Never allow your body to do harm. Follow these three roads with purity and you
will find yourself upon the one way, the way of wisdom. (Dhammapada,
20.)
92. Muhammad:
God’s
guidance is the only guidance. We are
commanded to surrender ourselves to the Lord of the Universe, to pray, and to
fear Him....It was He who created the heavens and the earth in all truth....His
word is the truth....He has knowledge of the unknown and the manifest. He alone is wise and all-knowing. (Koran,
6:72.)
93. Jesus:
Once
the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the
94. Confucius:
Do
not worry if you are without a position; worry lest you do not deserve a
position. Do not worry if you are not
famous; worry lest you do not deserve to be famous. (Analects,
4.14.)
95. Buddha:
The
master is wakeful. He watches his
body. In all actions he discriminates,
and he becomes pure. (Dhammapada,
21.)
96. Socrates: For
one who is not pure himself to attain to the realm of purity would no doubt be
a breach of universal justice. (Phaedo, 67.)
97. Confucius:
I
have never seen a man capable of seeing his own faults and of exposing them in
the tribunal of his heart….If a man cannot be trusted, I wouldn't know what to
do with him….To worship gods that are not yours, that is toadyism. Not to act when justice commands, that is
cowardice. (Analects, 5.27; 2.22;
2.24.)
98. Jesus:
What
is your opinion? A man had two
sons. He went and said to the first, “My
boy, go and work in the vineyard today.”
The son answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it
and went. The man then went and said the
same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will? (Bible,
Matthew 21:28-31.)
99. Muhammad:
Do
not swear: your obedience, not your
oaths, will count. God is aware of all
your actions. (Koran, 24:53.)
100. Confucius:
Failure
to cultivate moral power, failure to explore what I have learned, incapacity to
stand by what I know to be right, incapacity to reform what is not good --
these are my worries. (Analects, 7.3.)
101. Jesus:
You
worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only
one. (Bible,
Luke 10:41-42.)
102. Confucius:
The
300 Poems are summed up in one single
phrase: "Think no evil." (Analects, 2.2.)
103. Buddha:
We
are what we think. All that we are arises
with our thoughts. With our thoughts we
make the world. Speak or act with an
impure mind and trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws
the cart....Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you as your
shadow, unshakable. (Dhammapada, 1.)
104. Socrates: I
once heard someone reading from a book…asserting that it is Mind that produces
order and is the cause of everything.
This explanation pleased me.
Somehow it seemed right that Mind should be the cause of everything; and
I reflected that if this is so, Mind in producing order sets everything in
order and arranges each individual thing in the way that is best for it….On
this view there was only one thing for one to consider with regard both to
oneself and to anything else, namely the best and highest good. (Phaedo,
98.)
105. Muhammad:
If a
misfortune befalls you, it is the fruit of your own labors. God forgives much....He accepts the
repentance of His servants, and pardons their sins. He has knowledge of all your actions. (Koran,
42:25,31.)
106. Confucius:
Always
put the effort before the reward: is this not the way to accumulate moral
power? To attack evil in itself and not
the evil that is in people: is this not the way to neutralize hostility? (Analects,
12.21.)
107. Jesus:
No
one can serve two masters....You cannot serve both God and money. (Bible,
Luke 16:13.)
108. Krishna:
To
refrain from selfish acts is one kind of renunciation...to renounce the fruit
of action is another:...to fulfill your responsibilities knowing that they are
obligatory, while at the same time desiring nothing for yourself....As long as
one has a body, one cannot renounce action altogether. True renunciation is giving up all desire for
personal reward. (Bhagavad Gita, 18:2,9,11.)
109. Jesus:
Watch,
and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in
possessions, even when someone has more than he needs. There was once a rich man who, having had a
good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my
crops.” Then he said,...”I will pull
down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in
them, and I will say to my soul: “My
soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take
things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.”
But God said to him, “Fool! This
very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours,
whose will it be then?” So it is when
someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of
God. (Bible,
Luke 12:15-21.)
110. Socrates: So if
you see anyone distressed at the prospect of dying…it will be proof enough that
he is a lover not of wisdom but of the body.
As a matter of fact, I suppose he is also a lover of wealth and
reputation; one or the other, or both. (Phaedo, 68.)
111. Jesus:
In
truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the
112. Buddha:
He
who lives purely and self assured, in quietness and virtue, who is without harm
or hurt or blame, even if he wears fine clothes, so long as he also has faith,
he is a true seeker....Believe, meditate, see.
Be harmless, be blameless. Awake
to the law. And from all sorrow free
yourself. (Dhammapada, 10.)
113. Jesus:
Pay
Caesar what belongs to Caesar -- and God what belongs to God. (Bible,
Matthew 22:21.)
114. Confucius:
A
gentleman eats without stuffing his belly; chooses a dwelling without demanding
comfort; is diligent in his office and prudent in his speech; seeks the company
of the virtuous in order to straighten his own ways. Of such a man, one may truly say that he is
fond of learning. (Analects,
1.14.)
115. Jesus:
And
so I tell you this: use money, tainted
as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will
welcome you into eternal dwellings.
Anyone who is trustworthy in little things is trustworthy in great;
anyone who is dishonest in little things is dishonest in great. If then you are not trustworthy with money,
that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? (Bible,
Luke 16:9-11.)
116. Muhammad:
Wealth
and children are the ornament of this life.
But deeds of lasting merit are better rewarded by your Lord and hold for
you a greater hope of salvation. (Koran, 18:46.)
117. Socrates: If
the soul is immortal, it demands our care not only for that part of time which
we call life, but for all time; and indeed it would seem now that it will be
extremely dangerous to neglect it. If
death were a release from everything, it would be a boon for the wicked,
because by dying they would be released not only from the body but also from
their own wickedness together with the soul; but as it is, since the soul is
clearly immortal, it can have no escape or security from evil except by
becoming as good and wise as it possibly can.
For it takes nothing with it to the next world except its education and
training; and these, we are told, are of supreme importance in helping or
harming the newly dead at the very beginning of his journey there. (Phaedo,
107.)
118. Buddha:
The
fool is his own enemy. Seeking wealth,
he destroys himself. Seek rather the
other shore....In all things be a master of what you do and say and think. Be free....Delight in meditation and in
solitude. Compose yourself, be
happy. You are a seeker....Follow the
truth of the way. Reflect upon it. Make it your own. Live it.
It will always sustain you. Do
not turn away what is given you, nor reach out for what is given to
others....Give thanks for what has been given you, however little....Love and
joyfully follow the way. (Dhammapada, 24-25.)
Service
119. Krishna:
At
the beginning of time I declared two paths for the pure heart: the contemplative path of spiritual wisdom,
and the active path of selfless service....No one can gain perfection by
abstaining from work....Every creature is driven to action by his own
nature....Fulfill all your duties;....Act selflessly, without any thought of
personal profit....Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the
world....Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion. (Bhagavad
Gita, 3:3-26.)
120. Lao Tzu:
The
way never acts yet nothing is left undone.
Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it, the myriad
creatures will be transformed of their own accord. After they are transformed, should desire
raise its head, I shall press it down with the weight of the nameless uncarved
block. The nameless uncarved block is
but freedom from desire, and if I cease to desire and remain still, the empire
will be at peace of its own accord. (Tao Te Ching, 37.)
121. Buddha:
Love
yourself and watch -- today, tomorrow, always.
First establish yourself in the way, then teach, and so defeat
sorrow. To straighten the crooked you
must first do a harder thing -- straighten yourself. You are your only master. Who else?
Subdue yourself and discover your master. How hard it is to serve yourself, how easy to
lose yourself in mischief and folly.
Never neglect your work for another’s....Your work is to discover your
work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. (Dhammapada,
12.)
122. Confucius:
A
craftman who wishes to do good work must first sharpen his tools. In whatever country you may settle, offer
your services to the most virtuous ministers and befriend those gentlemen who
cultivate humanity. (Analects, 15.10.)
123. Socrates: I
have often had the same dream, appearing in different forms at different times,
but always saying the same thing:
"Socrates, practice and cultivate the arts." (Phaedo,
60.)
124. Moses:
You
shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take
bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the
just. (Torah, Deuteronomy 16:19.)
125. Jesus:
The
greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he
were the one who serves. For who is
greater: the one at the table or the one
who serves? The one at the table surely? Yet here am I among you as one who
serves! (Bible, Luke 22:26-27.)
126. Muhammad:
Serve
your Lord, who has created you and those who have gone before you,...who has
made earth a bed for you and the sky a dome, and has sent down water from the
sky to bring forth fruits for your sustenance.
(Koran, 2:20.)
127. Confucius:
The
gentleman considers the whole rather than the parts. The small man considers the parts rather than
the whole. (Analects, 2:14.)
128. Jesus:
A
man who was about to go abroad summoned his servants and entrusted his property
to them. To one he gave five talents, to
another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey. The man who had received the five talents
promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in
the same way. But the man who had
received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s
money. Now a long time afterwards, the
master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with
them. The man who had received the five
talents came forward bringing five more....His master said to him, “Well done,
good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small
things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s
happiness.” The master then said the
same to the second servant, who had received two talents and came forward
bringing two more. Last came forward the
man who had the single talent....The master took the talent from him and gave
it to the man who had the ten talents.
For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than
enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has. (Bible,
Matthew 25:14-29.)
129. Confucius:
Demand
much from yourself, little from others, and you will prevent discontent. (Analects,
15.15.)
130. Jesus:
Disciple
is not superior to teacher, nor servant to master. It is enough for disciple to grow to be like
teacher, and servant like master. (Bible, Matthew 10:24.)
131. Confucius:
It
is easy to work for a gentleman, but not easy to please him. Try to please him by immoral means, and he
will not be pleased; but he never demands anything that is beyond your
capacity. It is not easy to work for a
vulgar man, but easy to please him. Try
to please him, even by immoral means, and he will be pleased; but his demands
know no limits....A gentleman shows authority, but no arrogance. A vulgar man shows arrogance, but no
authority. (Analects, 13.25-26.)
132. Jesus:
Every
writer who becomes a disciple of the
133. Confucius:
He
who by revising the old knows the new, is fit to be a teacher. (Analects,
2.11.)
134. Jesus:
You
are light for the world. A city built on
a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one
lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it
shines for everyone in the house. In the
same way your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good
works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven. (Bible,
Matthew 5:14-16.)
135. Confucius:
A
gentleman should be slow to speak and prompt to act….A gentleman seeks virtue;
a small man seeks land. A gentleman
seeks justice; a small man seeks favors.
(Analects, 4.24; 4.11.)
136. Lao Tzu:
Have
in your hold the great image and the empire will come to you. Coming to you and meeting with no harm it
will be safe and sound. Music and food
will induce the wayfarer to stop. The
way in its passage through the mouth is without flavor. It cannot be seen, it cannot be heard, yet it
cannot be exhausted by use. (Tao Te Ching, 35.)
137. Confucius:
To
store up knowledge in silence, to remain forever hungry for learning, to teach
others without tiring -- all this comes to me naturally. (Analects, 7.2)
138.
Community
139. Confucius:
Don't
worry if people don't recognize your merits; worry that you may not recognize
theirs….A gentleman resents his incompetence; he does not resent his
obscurity....A gentleman makes demands on himself; a vulgar man makes demands
on others. (Analects, 1.16; 15.19; 15.21.)
140.
141. Jesus:
If
your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between
your two selves. If he listens to you,
you have won back your brother. If he
does not listen, take one or two others along with you....If he refuses to
listen to these, report it to the community.
(Bible, Matthew 18:15-18.)
142. Buddha:
The
wise tell you where you have fallen and where you yet may fall -- invaluable
secrets! Follow them, follow the
way. Do not look for bad company or live
with people who do not care. Find
friends who love the truth. The wise
delight in the truth and follow the law of the awakened. Neither praise nor blame moves the wise. They are clarity. Hearing the truth, they are like a lake, pure
and tranquil and deep. (Dhammapada, 6.)
143. Socrates: Even
if you find our original assumptions convincing, they still need more accurate
consideration. If you and your friends
examine them closely enough, I believe that you will arrive at the truth of the
matter, in so far as it is possible for the human mind to attain it; and if you
are sure that you have done this, you will not need to inquire further. (Phaedo,
107.)
144. Lao Tzu:
Rather
than fill it to the brim by keeping it upright, better to have stopped in
time. Hammer it to a point and the
sharpness cannot be preserved for ever.
There may be gold and jade to fill a hall, but there is none who can
keep them. To be overbearing when one
has wealth and position is to bring calamity upon oneself. To retire when the task is accomplished is
the way of heaven. (Tao Te Ching, 9.)
145. Muhammad:
God
sends apostles only to proclaim good news and to give warning. But with false arguments unbelievers seek to
confute the truth, scoffing at God’s revelations and His warnings. (Koran,
18:56.)
146. Moses:
God
said: “I am the Lord your God....You
shall have no other gods beside Me. You
shall not make for yourself sculptured images... and bow down to them or serve
them. You shall not swear falsely by the
name of the Lord your God;....Remember the sabbath day, and keep it
holy....Honor your father and your mother....You shall not murder....You shall
not commit adultery....You shall not steal....You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor....You shall not covet...anything that is your
neighbor’s.” (Torah, Exodus 20:2-17.)
147. Jesus:
If
you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. Honor your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. (Bible, Matthew 19:17-22.)
148. Confucius:
The
fact remains that I have never seen a man who loved virtue as much as sex. (Analects,
15.13.)
149. Muhammad:
True
servants of the Merciful...do not commit adultery. People who do this shall meet with
evil...unless they repent and believe and do good works, for then God will change
their sins to good actions: God is
forgiving and merciful. (Koran, 25:64,68.)
150. Socrates: Do
you think that it is right for a philosopher to concern himself with the
nominal pleasures connected with food and drink?…What about sexual
pleasures?…And what about all the other attentions that we pay to our
bodies? Do you think that a philosopher
attaches any importance to them? I mean
things like providing himself with smart clothes and shoes and other bodily
ornaments;….Then it is your opinion in general that a man of this kind is not
concerned with the body, but keeps his attention directed as much as he can
away from it and towards the soul? (Phaedo, 65.)
151. Confucius:
A
gentleman must guard himself against three dangers. When young, as the energy of the blood is
still in turmoil, he should guard against lust.
In his maturity, as the energy of the blood is at its full, he should
guard against rage. In old age, as the
energy of the blood is on the wane, he should guard against [greed]. (Analects,
16.7.)
152. Socrates: By
keeping ourselves uncontaminated by the follies of the body, we shall probably
reach the company of others like ourselves and gain direct knowledge of all
that is pure and uncontaminated -- that is, presumably, of Truth. (Phaedo,
67.)
153. Confucius:
A
gentleman considers what is just; a small man considers what is
expedient....When the Way prevails in the state, serve it. To serve a state that has lost the Way --
this is shameful indeed....He who acts out of self-interest arouses much
resentment. (Analects, 4.16; 14.1; 4.12.)
154. Socrates: All
wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth; and the reason why we have
to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service. That is why, on all these accounts, we have
so little time for philosophy. Worst of
all, if we do obtain any leisure from the body's claims and turn to some line
of inquiry, the body intrudes once more into our investigations, interrupting,
disturbing, distracting, and preventing us from getting a glimpse of the
truth. (Phaedo, 66.)
155. Confucius:
A
gentleman can indeed find himself in distress, but only a vulgar man is upset
by it....Speak with loyalty and good faith, act with dedication and deference,
and even among the barbarians your conduct will be irreproachable….If you speak
without loyalty and good faith, if you act without dedication or deference,
your conduct will be unacceptable, even in your own village. (Analects,
15.2; 15.6.)
156. Jesus:
Every
country divided against itself is heading for ruin; and no town, no household
divided against itself can last. (Bible, Matthew, 12:25.)
157. Confucius:
A
gentleman gathers friends through his culture; and with these friends, he
develops his humanity. (Analects, 12.24.)
158. Muhammad:
This
present life is like the rich garment with which the earth adorns itself when
watered by the rain God sends down from the sky. Crops, sustaining people and beasts, grow
luxuriantly: but, as its tenants begin
to think themselves its masters, down comes God’s scourge upon it, by night or
in broad day, laying it to waste, as though it did not blossom but
yesterday. Thus does God make plain His
revelations to thoughtful people. God
invites you to the Home of Peace. He
guides whom He will to a straight path. (Koran, 10:24.)
159. Confucius:
[Kong-the-Civilized
was called "civilized"] because he had an agile mind, was fond of
learning, and was not ashamed to seek enlightenment from his inferiors....When
you see a worthy man, seek to emulate him. When you see an unworthy man, examine
yourself….He who practices humanity is reluctant to speak….When the practice of
something is difficult, how could one speak about it lightly?….Whatever a
gentleman conceives of, he must be able to say; and whatever he says, he must
be able to do. In the matter of
language, a gentleman leaves nothing to chance.
(Analects, 5.15; 4.17;
12.3; 13.3.)
160. Muhammad:
Your
Lord knows best what is in your hearts; He knows if you are good. He will forgive those that turn to Him. Give to the near of kin their due, and also
to the destitute and to the wayfarers.
Do not squander your substance wastefully....If, while waiting for your
Lord’s bounty, you lack the means to assist them, then at least speak to them
kindly. Be neither miserly nor prodigal,
for then you will either be reproached or be reduced to poverty. Your Lord gives abundantly to whom He will
and sparingly to whom He pleases. He
knows and observes His servants. (Koran, 17:25-30.)
161. Jesus:
Do
not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy
them and thieves can break in and steal.
But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor
wormwood destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there will
your heart be too. (Bible, Matthew 6:19-21.)
162. Muhammad: True servants of the Merciful do not bear false
witness, they maintain their dignity when listening to profane abuse; they do
not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the revelations of their Lord when they
are reminded of them; they say: “Lord,
give us joy in our wives and children, and make us examples to those who fear
You.” These shall be rewarded for their
fortitude with the loftiest home in
Leadership
163. Jesus:
Who,
then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom the master placed over his
household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed that servant if his master’s arrival
finds him doing exactly that. In truth I
tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of everything he
owns. (Bible, Matthew 24:45-47.)
164. Lao Tzu:
The
best of all rulers is [barely known] to his subjects. Next comes the ruler they love and praise;
next comes one they fear; next comes one with whom they take liberties. When there is not enough faith, there is a
lack of good faith. Hesitant, he does
not utter words lightly. When his task
is accomplished and his work done the people all say, "It happened to us
naturally." (Tao Te Ching, 17.)
165. Confucius:
If a
man can steer his own life straight, the tasks of government should be no
problem for him. If he cannot steer his
own life straight, how could he steer other people straight? (Analects,
13.13.)
166. Moses:
Once
when I sat as magistrate among the people, my father-in-law said, “What is this
thing that you are doing to the people?
Why do you act alone, while all the people stand about you from morning
until evening?” I replied to my
father-in-law, “It is because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, it comes before me,
and I decide between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the laws and
teachings of God.”....But my father-in-law said to me, “The thing you are doing
is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot
do it alone. Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with
you! You represent the people before
God: you bring the disputes before God,
and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way
they are to go and the practices they are to follow. You shall also seek out from among all the
people capable ones who fear God, trustworthy ones who spurn ill-gotten
gain. Set these over the others as
chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge the people
at all times. Have them bring every
major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself, and let them
share the burden with you. If you do
this -- and God so commands you -- you will be able to bear up; and all these
people too will go home unwearied.” So I
heeded my father-in-law and did just as he had said. (Torah,
Exodus 18:13-24.)
167. Muhammad:
Did
you suppose that you would go to
168. Buddha:
If
you determine your course with force or speed, you miss the way of the
law. Quietly consider what is right and
what is wrong. Receiving all opinions
equally, without haste, wisely, observe the law....Be quiet, loving, and fearless. For the mind talks, but the body knows. The true master lives in truth, in goodness
and restraint, nonviolence, moderation and purity....he who weighs only purity
in his scales, who sees the nature of the two worlds, he is a master....O
seeker! Rely on nothing until you want
nothing. (Dhammapada, 19.)
169.
170. Socrates: When
soul and body are both in the same place, nature teaches the one to serve and
be subject, the other to rule and govern.
In this relation which do you think resembles the divine and which the
mortal part? Don't you think that it is
the nature of the divine to rule and direct, and that of the mortal to be
subject and serve? (Phaedo, 80.)
171. Lao Tzu:
The
myriad creatures all revere the way and honor virtue. Yet the way is revered and virtue honored not
because this is decreed by any authority but because it is natural for them to
be treated so. Thus the way gives them
life and rears them; brings them up and nurses them; brings them to fruition
and maturity; feeds and shelters them.
It gives them life yet claims no possession; it benefits them yet exacts
no gratitude; it is the steward yet exercises no authority. Such is called the mysterious virtue. (Tao
Te Ching, 51.)
172. Confucius:
Raise
the straight and put them above the crooked, so that they may straighten the
crooked....If you desire what is good, the people will be good. The moral power of the gentleman is wind, the
moral power of the common man is grass.
Under the wind, the grass must bend....Guide the officials. Forgive small mistakes. Promote men of talent. (Analects,
12.22, 12.19, 13.2.)
173. Jesus:
Do
not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given
to you when the time comes, because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit
of your Father will be speaking in you. (Bible, Matthew 10:19.)
174. Confucius:
To
govern a state of middle size, one must dispatch business with dignity and good
faith; be thrifty and love all men; mobilize the people only at the right
times. (Analects, 1.5.)
175. Lao Tzu:
It
is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure; it is easy to deal
with a situation before symptoms develop; it is easy to break a thing when it
is yet brittle; it is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute. Deal with a thing while it is still nothing;
keep a thing in order before disorder sets in.
A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms grows from a downy tip; a
terrace nine stories high rises from hodfuls of earth; a journey of a thousand
miles starts from beneath one's feet.
Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will
lose it. Therefore the sage, because he
does nothing, never ruins anything; and, because he does not lay hold of
anything, loses nothing. In their
enterprises the people always ruin them when on the verge of success. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning
and there will be no ruined enterprises.
Therefore the sage desires not to desire and does not value goods which
are hard to come by; learns to be without learning and makes good the mistakes
of the multitude in order to help the myriad creatures to be natural and to
refrain from daring to act. (Tao Te Ching, 64.)
176. Confucius:
To
govern is to be straight. If you steer
straight, who would dare not to go straight?.…If you yourself were not
covetous, they would not rob you, even if you paid them to. (Analects,
12.17-18.)
177. Lao Tzu:
When
the people are not afraid of death, wherefore frighten them with death?… There
is a regular executioner whose charge it is to kill. To kill on behalf of the executioner is what
is described as chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter. In chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter,
there are few who escape hurting their own hands instead. (Tao
Te Ching, 74.)
178. Jesus:
All
who draw the sword will die by the sword.
(Bible, Matthew 26:52.)
179. Confucius:
There
was a time when I used to listen to what people said and trusted that they
would act accordingly, but now I listen to what they say and watch what they
do. (Analects,
5.10.)
180. Lao Tzu:
Governing
a large state is like boiling a small fish.
[This is because a small fish can be spoiled simply by being
handled.] When the empire is ruled in
accordance with the way, the spirits lose their potencies. Or rather, it is not that they lose their
potencies, but that, though they have their potencies, they do not harm the
people. It is not only they who, having
their potencies, do not harm the people, the sage, also, does not harm the
people. As neither does any harm, each
attributes the merit to the other. (Tao
Te Ching, 60.)
181. Confucius:
To
attack a question from the wrong end -- this is harmful indeed….I am going to
teach you what knowledge is. To take
what you know for what you know, and what you do not know for what you do not
know, that is knowledge indeed....A gentleman does not approve of a person
because he expresses a certain opinion, nor does he reject an opinion because
it is expressed by a certain person.….Approach [people] with dignity and they
will be respectful. Be yourself a good
son and a kind father, and they will be loyal.
Raise the good and train the incompetent, and they will be zealous…."Only
cultivate filial piety and be kind to your brothers, and you will be contributing
to the body politic." This is also
a form of political action; one need not necessarily join the government. (Analects,
2.16-17; 15.23; 2.20-21.)
182. Jesus:
Any
plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind; and if
one blind person leads another, both will fall into a pit. (Bible,
Matthew, 15:13-14.)
183. Lao Tzu:
The
reason why the people are difficult to govern is that they are too clever. Hence to rule a state by cleverness will be
to the detriment of the state; not to rule a state by cleverness will be a boon
to the state. (Tao Te Ching, 65.)
184. Jesus:
In
truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. (Bible,
Luke 4:24.)
185. Confucius:
Lead
them by political maneuvers, restrain them with punishments: the people will
become cunning and shameless. Lead them
with virtue, restrain them with ritual: they will develop a sense of shame and
a sense of participation. (Analects, 2.3.)
186. Lao Tzu:
One
who assists the ruler of men by means of the way does not intimidate the empire
by a show of arms. This is something
which is liable to rebound. Where troops
have encamped there will brambles grow; in the wake of a mighty army bad
harvests follow without fail. One who is
good aims only at bringing his campaign to a conclusion and dare not thereby
intimidate. Bring it to a conclusion but
do not boast; bring it to a conclusion but do not brag; bring it to a
conclusion but do not be arrogant; bring it to a conclusion but only when there
is no choice; bring it to a conclusion but do not intimidate. A creature in its prime doing harm to the old
is known as going against the way. That
which goes against the way will come to an early end. (Tao
Te Ching, 30.)
187. Confucius:
I
follow no rigid prescriptions on what should, or should not, be done....Clever
talk and affected manners are seldom signs of goodness....I wish to speak no
more....Does Heaven speak? Yet the four
seasons follow their course and the hundred creatures continue to be born. Does Heaven speak? (Analects,
18:8; 17:17,19.)
188. Lao Tzu:
One
who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know. (Tao
Te Ching, 56.)
189. Confucius:
He
is straight: things work out by themselves, without his having to issue
orders. He is not straight: he has to
multiply orders, which are not being followed anyway. (Analects,
13.6.)
190. Lao Tzu:
When
peace is made between great enemies, some enmity is bound to remain
undispelled. How can this be considered
perfect? Therefore the sage takes the
left-hand tally [the half held by the creditor], but exacts no payment from the
people. The man of virtue takes charge
of the tally; the man of no virtue takes charge of exaction. It is the way of heaven to show no
favoritism. It is forever on the side of
the good man. (Tao Te Ching, 79.)
191. Confucius:
In
the affairs of the world, a gentleman has no [preconceived opinions]: he takes
the side of justice. (Analects, 4.10.)
192. Lao Tzu:
In
ruling the people and in serving heaven it is best for a ruler to be
sparing. It is because he is sparing
that he may be said to follow the way from the start; following the way from
the start he may be said to accumulate an abundance of virtue; accumulating an
abundance of virtue there is nothing he cannot overcome; when there is nothing
he cannot overcome, no one knows his limit; when no one knows his limit he can
possess a state; when he possesses the mother of a state he can then endure. This is called the way of deep roots and firm
stems by which one lives to see many days.
(Tao Te Ching, 59.)
193. Jesus:
Pray
like this: Our Father in heaven, may
your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in
heaven. (Bible, Matthew 6:9-10.)
Harmony
194. Lao Tzu:
The
world had a beginning and this beginning could be the mother of the world. When you know the mother go on to know the
child. After you have known the child go
back to holding fast to the mother, and to the end of your days you will not
meet with danger. (Tao Te Ching, 52.)
195. Confucius:
A
gentleman seeks harmony, but not conformity.
A vulgar man seeks conformity, but not harmony....What is the use of
eloquence? An agile tongue creates many
enemies. (Analects, 13:23; 5:5.)
196. Buddha:
Better
than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace. It is better to conquer yourself than to win
a thousand battles. Then the victory is
yours....Turn away from mischief. Again
and again, turn away, before sorrow befalls you. Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be
filled with joy....Do not make light of your failings....A jug fills drop by
drop. So the fool becomes brimful of
folly. Do not belittle your virtues....A
jug fills drop by drop. So the wise
become brimful of virtue. (Dhammapada, 8-9.)
197. Socrates: So
long as we keep to the body and our soul is contaminated with this
imperfection, there is no chance of our ever attaining satisfactorily to our
object, which we assert to be Truth. In
the first place, the body provides us with innumerable distractions in the
pursuit of our necessary sustenance; and any diseases which attack us hinder
our quest for reality. Besides, the body
fills us with loves and desires and fears and all sorts of fancies and a great
deal of nonsense. (Phaedo, 66.)
198.
199. Jesus:
Peace
I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot
give, this is my gift to you. (Bible, John 14:27.)
200. Muhammad:
Remember
your Lord deep in your soul with humility and reverence, and without ostentation. (Koran,
7:205.)
201. Moses:
The
Lord will reign for ever and ever! (Torah, Exodus 15:18.)
202. Muhammad:
Some
wrangle about God, though they have neither knowledge nor guidance nor divine
revelation. They turn away in scorn and
lead others astray from God’s path....Some profess to serve God and yet stand
on the very fringe of the true faith.
When blessed with good fortune they are content, but when an ordeal
befalls them they turn upon their heels, forfeiting this life and the
hereafter....They call on that which can neither harm nor help them. That is the supreme folly. (Koran,
22:8-14.)
203. Lao Tzu:
Truthful
words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive
words are not good. He who knows has no
wide learning; he who has wide learning does not know. The sage does not hoard. Having bestowed all he has on others, he has
yet more; having given all he has to others, he is richer still. The way of heaven benefits and does not harm;
the way of the sage is bountiful and does not contend. (Tao
Te Ching, 81.)
204. Confucius:
Through
self-cultivation, he achieves dignity. -- Is that all? -- Through
self-cultivation, he spreads his peace to his neighbors. -- Is that all? --
Through self-cultivation, he spreads his peace to all people....Put loyalty and
trust above everything else;…do not be afraid to correct your mistakes....When
the Way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state has lost the Way, act boldly
and speak softly. (Analects, 14.42; 9.25; 14.3.)
205. Buddha:
If
you sleep desire grows in you like a vine in the forest. Like a monkey in the forest you jump from
tree to tree, never finding the fruit.
From life to life, never finding peace.
If you are filled with desire your sorrows swell like the grass after
the rain. But if you subdue desire your
sorrows fall from you like drops of water from a lotus flower. This is good counsel and it is good for
everyone. O seeker! Give up desire. Shake off your chains. (Dhammapada,
24.)
206. Confucius:
A
man with no concern for the future is bound to worry about the present. (Analects,
15.12.)
207. Krishna:
Pleasures
conceived in the world of the senses have a beginning and an end and give birth
to misery....The wise do not look for happiness in them....those who overcome
the impulses of lust and anger which arise in the body are made whole and live
in joy....Closing their eyes, steadying their breathing, and focusing their
attention on the center of spiritual consciousness, the wise master their
senses, mind, and intellect through meditation.
(Bhagavad Gita, 5:22-28.)
208. Socrates: There
is one way, then, in which one can be free from all anxiety about the fate of
the soul; if in life he has abandoned bodily pleasures and adornments, as
foreign to his purpose and likely to do more harm than good, and has devoted
himself to the pleasures of acquiring knowledge; and so by decking his soul not
with a borrowed beauty but with its own -- with self-control, and goodness, and
courage, and liberality, and truth -- has fitted himself to await his journey
to the next world. (Phaedo, 115.)
209. Buddha:
Arise
and watch. Follow the way joyfully
through this world and beyond....How can he lose the way who is beyond the
way? His eye is open. His foot is free. Who can follow after him? The world cannot reclaim him or lead him
astray, nor can the poisoned net of desire hold him....He is awake and finds
joy in the stillness of meditation and in the sweetness of surrender. (Dhammapada,
13-14.)
210. Krishna:
When
meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a
windless place....Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search
for satisfaction without, lead it within....Abiding joy comes to those who
still the mind. (Bhagavad Gita, 6:19-27.)
211. Confucius:
Steady
your course with ritual; find your fulfillment in music. (Analects,
8.8.)
212.
213. Buddha:
At
the end of the way the master finds freedom from desire and sorrow -- freedom
without bounds....He is the charioteer.
He has tamed his horses, pride and the senses....He is free from life
and death. His thoughts are still. His words are still. His work is stillness....The master
surrenders his beliefs....He gives up all his desires. He resists all temptations....Wherever he
lives...there is great joy. He finds joy
because he wants nothing. (Dhammapada, 7.)
Wisdom
214. Socrates: Did
we not say some time ago that when the soul uses the instrumentality of the
body for any inquiry, whether through sight or hearing or any other sense…it is
drawn away by the body into the realm of the variable, and loses its way and
becomes confused and dizzy, as though it were fuddled, through contact with
things of a similar nature? But when it
investigates by itself, it passes into the realm of the pure and everlasting
and immortal and changeless; and being of a kindred nature, when it is once
independent and free from interference, consorts with it always and strays no
longer, but remains in that realm of the absolute, constant and invariable,
through contact with beings of a similar nature. And this condition of the soul we call
Wisdom. (Phaedo, 80.)
215. Krishna:
The
highest knowledge sees the one indestructible Being in all beings, the unity
underlying the multiplicity of creation....To know when to act and when to
refrain from action, what is right action and what is wrong, what brings
security and what insecurity, what brings freedom and what bondage: these are the signs of wisdom. (Bhagavad
Gita, 18:20,30.)
216. Muhammad:
Know
that God has knowledge of all your thoughts.
Therefore take heed and bear in mind that God is forgiving and
lenient. (Koran, 2:235.)
217. Moses:
The
Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your might. (Torah, Deuteronomy 6:4-5.)
218. Confucius:
A
gentleman takes care in nine circumstances: -- when looking, to see clearly; --
when listening, to hear distinctly; -- in his expression, to be amiable; -- in
his attitude, to be deferential; -- in his speech, to be loyal; -- when on
duty, to be respectful; when in doubt, to question; -- when angry, to ponder
the consequences; -- when gaining an advantage, to consider what is fair. (Analects,
16.10.)
219. Buddha: See what is.
See what is not. Follow the true
way. Rise. (Dhammapada,
22.)
220. Jesus:
Stay
awake, and pray not to be put to the test.
The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak....Everyone who
listens to my words and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his
house on rock. Rain came down, floods
rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not
fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to my words and does
not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and
struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had. (Bible,
Matthew 26:41; 7:24-27.)
221. Lao Tzu:
He
who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death; he who is fearless in
being timid will stay alive. Of the two,
one leads to good, the other to harm.
Heaven hates what it hates. Who
knows the reason why? Therefore even the
sage treats some things as difficult.
The way of heaven excels in overcoming though it does not contend, in
responding though it does not speak, in attracting though it does not summon,
in laying plans though it appears slack.
The net of heaven is cast wide.
Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever slips through. (Tao
Te Ching, 73.)
222. Socrates: True
philosophers make dying their profession,…to them of all people death is least
alarming….If they are thoroughly dissatisfied with the body, and long to have
their soul independent of it, when this happens would it not be entirely unreasonable
to be frightened and distressed? Would
they not naturally be glad to set out for the place where there is a prospect
of attaining the object of their lifelong desire, which is Wisdom? (Phaedo,
68.)
223.
224. Buddha:
Like
a fish out of water, stranded on the shore, thoughts thrash and quiver. For how can they shake off desire? They tremble, they are unsteady, they wander
at their will. It is good to control
them, and to master them brings happiness.
(Dhammapada, 3.)
225. Muhammad:
Impatience
is the very stuff man is made of. (Koran, 21:38.)
226. Socrates: It is
wisdom that makes possible courage and self-control and integrity. (Phaedo,
69.)
227. Jesus:
Make
a tree sound and its fruit will be sound; make a tree rotten and its fruit will
be rotten. For the tree can be told by
its fruit....Words flow out of what fills the heart. Good people draw good things from their store
of goodness; bad people draw bad things from their store of badness....What
goes into the mouth does not make anyone unclean; it is what comes out of the
mouth that makes someone unclean....Whatever goes into the mouth passes through
the stomach and is discharged into the sewer.
But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and it is this
that makes someone unclean. For from the
heart come evil intentions....These are the things that make a person
unclean. (Bible, Matthew 12:33-35; 15:11-20.)
228. Muhammad:
Restrain
yourself, together with those who pray to their Lord morning and evening,
seeking His pleasure. Do not turn your
eyes away from them in quest of the good things of this life, nor obey those
who follow their appetites and give a loose rein to their desires. (Koran,
18:28.)
229. Jesus:
Beware
of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are
ravenous wolves. You will be able to
tell them by their fruits. (Bible, Matthew 7:15-16.)
230. Socrates: It
seems that so long as we are alive, we shall continue closest to knowledge if
we avoid as much as we can all contact and association with the body, except
when they are absolutely necessary; and instead of allowing ourselves to become
infected with its nature, purify ourselves from it until God himself gives us
deliverance. (Phaedo, 67.)
231. Buddha:
Hard
it is to be born, hard it is to live, harder still to hear of the way, and hard
to rise, follow, and awake. Yet the
teaching is simple. Do what is
right. Be pure. At the end of the way is freedom. Until then, patience....Offend in neither
word nor deed. Eat with moderation. Live in your heart. Seek the highest consciousness. Master yourself according to the law. This is the simple teaching of the
awakened. (Dhammapada, 14.)
232. Muhammad:
Do
not say of anything: “I will do it
tomorrow,” without adding: “If God
wills.” When you forget, remember your
Lord and say: “May God guide me and
bring me nearer to the Truth....” Those
who repent and mend their ways, who hold fast to God and are sincere in their
devotion to God -- they shall be numbered with the faithful, and the faithful
shall be richly rewarded by God. And why
should God punish you if you render thanks to Him and truly believe in
Him? God will reward your labors, for He
knows them all. (Koran, 18:25; 4:146-147.)
233. Jesus:
Do
not be guided by those who do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on the
people’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!
Everything they do is done to attract attention. (Bible,
Matthew 23:3-5.)
234. Confucius:
When
dealing with a man who is capable of understanding your teaching, if you do not
teach him, you waste the man. When
dealing with a man who is incapable of understanding your teaching, if you do
teach him, you waste your teaching. A
wise teacher wastes no man and wastes no teaching. (Analects,
15.8.)
235. Jesus:
Do
not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or
they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. (Bible,
Matthew 7:6.)
236. Confucius:
Only
the wisest and the stupidest never change.
(Analects, 17.3.)
237. Buddha:
Do
not let pleasure distract you from meditation, from the way. Free yourself from pleasure and pain. For in craving pleasure or in nursing pain
there is only sorrow....Let go of anger.
Let go of pride. When you are
bound by nothing you go beyond sorrow....With gentleness overcome anger. With generosity overcome greed. With truth overcome deceit....Those who seek
perfection keep watch by day and night until all desires vanish. The wise have mastered body, word, and
mind. They are the true masters. (Dhammapada,
16-17.)
238.
Faith
239. Muhammad:
Who
has a nobler religion than the one who surrenders to God and does what is
right?...To God belongs all that the heavens and the earth contain. God has knowledge of all things. (Koran,
4:125.)
240. Lao Tzu:
There
is a thing confusedly formed born before heaven and earth. Silent and void it stands alone and does not
change, goes round and does not weary.
It is capable of being the mother of the world. I know not its name so I style it 'the way'. I give it the makeshift name of 'the
great'. Being great, it is further
described as receding, receding, it is further described as far away, being far
away, it is described as turning back (Tao Te Ching, 25.)
241. Socrates: I
want to explain to you how it seems to me natural that one who has really
devoted his life to philosophy should be cheerful in the face of death, and
confident of finding the greatest blessing in the next world when his life is
finished. (Phaedo, 64.)
242. Moses:
The
Lord is my strength and might; He has become my salvation. (Torah,
Exodus, 15:2.)
243. Confucius:
At
fifteen, I set my mind upon learning. At
thirty, I took my stand. At forty, I had
no doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of
Heaven. At sixty, my ear was
attuned. At seventy, I follow all the
desires of my heart without breaking any rule.
(Analects, 2.4.)
244. Buddha:
With
single-mindedness the master quells his thoughts. He ends their wandering. Seated in the cave of the heart, he finds
freedom. An untroubled mind, no longer
seeking to consider what is right and what is wrong, a mind beyond judgments,
watches and understands. (Dhammapada, 3.)
245.
246. Jesus:
The
247. Muhammad:
All
that is in heaven and earth gives glory to God.
He is the Mighty, the Wise One.
It is He that has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. He ordains life and death, and has power over
all things. He is the First and the
Last, the Visible and the Unseen. He has
knowledge of all things....He is with you wherever you are. He knows all of your actions....To God shall
all things return....He has knowledge of the inmost thoughts of people. (Koran,
57:1-6.)
248. Lao Tzu:
You
cannot get close to it, nor can you keep it at arm's length; you cannot bestow
benefit on it, nor can you do it harm; you cannot ennoble it, nor can you
debase it. Therefore it is valued by the
empire. (Tao Te Ching, 56.)
249.
250. Jesus:
I am
the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can
come to the Father except through me. If
you know me, you will know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him....Anyone who has seen
me has seen the Father, so how can you say, “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father and
the Father is in me? What I say to you I
do not speak of my own accord: it is the
Father, living in me, who is doing his works.
You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is
in me....I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the
Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my
sheep. And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold, and I must lead these too. They too will listen to my voice, and there
will be only one flock, one shepherd.
The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up
again. No one takes it from me; I lay it
down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, so I have power
to take it up again; and this is the command I have received from my
Father....The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they
follow me. I give them eternal life;
they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand. The Father, for what he has given me, is
greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one....I pray not only
for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in
me. May they all be one, just as,
Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that
the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we
are one. With me in them and you in me,
may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognize that it was you
who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me. (Bible,
John 14:6-11;10:14-18; 10:27-30; 17:20-23.)
251.
252. Socrates:
Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply
themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord
preparing themselves for dying and death.
If this is true, and they have actually been looking forward to death
all their lives, it would of course be absurd to be troubled when the thing
comes for which they have so long been preparing and looking forward. (Phaedo,
64.)
253. Muhammad:
Praise
be to God, Lord of the Universe, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Sovereign of
the Day of Judgment! You alone we
worship, and to You alone we turn for help.
Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom You have favored,
not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone
astray....God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth....He created all
things and has knowledge of all things....There is no god but Him. He is the Guardian of all things....No mortal
eyes can see Him, though He sees all eyes.
He is benign and all-knowing. (Koran, 1:1-7; 6:11-103.)
254. Jesus:
Listen,
a sower went out to sow. As he sowed,
some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them
up. Others fell on patches of rock where
they found little soil and sprang up at once, because there was no depth of
earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any
roots, they withered away. Others fell
among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their
crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Anyone who has ears should listen!....So pay
attention to the parable of the sower.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the
Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown on the edge of the
path. The seed sown on patches of rock
is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But such a person has no root deep down and
does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the
word, at once he falls away. The seed
sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and
the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing. And the seed sown in rich soil is someone who
hears the word and understands it; this is the one who yields a harvest and
produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty. (Bible,
Matthew 13:18-23.)
255. Socrates: You
are afraid, as children are, that when the soul emerges from the body the wind
may really puff it away and scatter it. (Phaedo, 77.)
256. Confucius:
A
gentleman fears three things. He fears
the will of Heaven. He fears great
men. He fears the words of the
saints. A vulgar man does not fear the
will of Heaven, for he does not know it.
He despises greatness and he mocks the words of the saints. (Analects,
16.8.)
257. Jesus:
Come
to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden
light....Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as
snakes and yet innocent as doves. (Bible, Matthew 11:28-30; 10:16.)
258. Socrates: A
philosopher's soul…secures immunity from its desires by following Reason and
abiding always in her company, and by contemplating the true and divine and
unconjecturable, and drawing inspiration from it; because such a soul believes
that this is the right way to live while life endures, and that after death it
reaches a place which is kindred and similar to its own nature, and there is
rid forever of human ills. After such a
training…the soul can have no grounds for fearing that on its separation from
the body it will be blown away and scattered by the winds, and so disappear
into thin air, and cease to exist altogether.
(Phaedo, 84.)
259. Jesus:
The
260. Muhammad:
The
true believers are those whose hearts are filled with awe at the mention of
God, and whose faith grows stronger as they listen to His revelations. They are those who put their trust in their
Lord, pray steadfastly, and bestow in alms from that which God has given
them. Such are the true believers. (Koran,
8:2.)
261. Socrates: What
sort of thing is it that would naturally suffer the fate of being dispersed?…Is
it not extremely probable that what is always constant and invariable is
incomposite, and what is inconstant and variable is composite?…So you think
that we should assume two classes of things, one visible and the other
invisible?…The invisible being invariable, and the visible never being the
same?…So soul is more like the invisible, and body more like the visible? (Phaedo,
79.)
262. Jesus:
In
all truth I tell you,...what is born of human nature is human; what is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised
when I say: You must be born from
above. The wind blows where it pleases;
you can hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is
going. So it is with everyone who is
born of the Spirit. (Bible, John 3:5-8.)
263. Muhammad:
God
sent forth Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Torah already revealed, and gave him the Gospel in which there is
guidance and light, corroborating what was revealed before it in the Torah, a guide and an admonition to the
righteous. Therefore let those who
follow the Gospel judge according to what God has revealed therein. (Koran,
5:46.)
264. Jesus:
Remember
the words I said to you: A servant is
not greater than his master....My teaching is not from myself: it comes from the one who sent me; anyone who
is prepared to do his will, will know whether my teaching is from God or
whether I speak on my own account. (Bible, John 15:20; 7:16-17.)
265. Muhammad:
One
day God will gather all the apostles and ask them: “How were you received?” They will reply: “We have no knowledge. You alone know what is hidden.”...Then God
will say: “Jesus, son of Mary, did you
ever say to mankind: “Worship me and my
mother as gods beside God?”...“Glory to You,” he will answer, “how could I ever
say that to which I have no right? If I
had ever said so, You would have surely known it. You know what is in my mind, but I know not
what is in Yours. You alone know what is
hidden. I told them only what you bade
me. I said: ‘Serve God, my Lord and your Lord.” (Koran,
5:109-118.)
266. Jesus:
The
Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must
serve. (Bible, Matthew 4:10.)
267. Muhammad:
Speak
nothing but the truth about God. The
Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was no more than God’s apostle....So believe in
God and His apostles and do not say:
“Three.” Forbear, and it shall be
better for you. God is but one
God....His is all that the heavens and the earth contain. God is the all-sufficient protector. The Messiah does not disdain to be a servant
of God. (Koran, 4:171-173.)
268. Jesus:
How
can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy
Spirit,...calls him Lord; in what way then can he be his son?...I came into the
world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of
truth listen to my voice. (Bible, Mark 12:35-37; John 18:37.)
269. Muhammad:
The
duty of the Apostle is only to give warning.
God knows all that you hide and all that you reveal. (Koran,
5:99.)
270. Jesus:
Whoever
believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees
me, sees the one who sent me. I have
come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying
in the dark any more. (Bible, John 12:44-46.)
271. Muhammad:
It
is God who enriches and makes poor. To
Him you shall all return. (Koran, 2:245.)
272. Jesus:
Everything
now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made
clear....Blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they
hear! In truth I tell you, many prophets
and upright people longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what
you hear, and never heard it. (Bible, Matthew 10:26; 13:16-17.)
273. Muhammad:
God
makes this comparison. There are two
men: the one has many masters who are
ever at odds among themselves; the other has one master, to whom he is
devoted. Are these two to be held alike? God be praised! (Koran,
39:29.)
274. Jesus:
That
is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat,
nor about your body and what you are to wear.
Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feeds them....And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields;
they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all
his royal robes was clothed like one of these.
Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers in the field...will he
not much more look after you, you who have so little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to
eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?...” Your heavenly Father knows you need these
things. Set your hearts on his kingdom
first, and on God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given
you as well. So do not worry about
tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of
itself. Let the day’s own trouble be
sufficient for the day. (Bible, Matthew 6:25-34.)
275. Muhammad:
God
created you, and He will reclaim you hereafter.
Some shall have their lives prolonged to abject old age, when all that
they once knew they shall know no more.
All-knowing is God, and mighty....The ignorant ask: “Why does God not speak to us or give us a
sign?” The same demand was made by those
before them: their hearts are all
alike. But to those whose faith is firm
God has already revealed His signs. (Koran, 16:71; 2:118.)
276. Jesus:
The
coming of the
Eternal Life
277. Socrates: I suppose that for one who is soon to leave this
world there is no more suitable occupation than inquiring into our views about
the future life, and trying to imagine what it is like. What else can one do in the time before
sunset? (Phaedo, 61.)
278. Buddha:
Your
life is falling away. Death is at
hand. Where will you rest on the
way? What have you taken with you? You are the lamp to lighten the way....When
your light shines purely you will not be born and you will not die. As a silversmith sifts dust from silver,
remove your own impurities little by little....How easy to see your brother’s
faults, how hard to face your own....The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. All things arise and pass away. But the awakened awake forever. (Dhammapada,
18.)
279.
280. Confucius:
A
gentleman is without grief and without fear....His conscience is without
reproach. Why should he grieve, what
should he fear? (Analects, 12:4.)
281. Muhammad:
The life
of this world is but a sport and a pastime.
It is the life to come that is the true life....No mortal knows what he
will earn tomorrow; no mortal knows where he will breathe his last. God alone is wise and all-knowing. (Koran,
29:64; 31:35.)
282. Jesus:
In
all truth I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death....If you make
my word your home you will indeed be my disciples; you will come to know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. (Bible, John 8:51,31-36.)
283. Lao Tzu:
I do
my utmost to attain emptiness; I hold firmly to stillness. The myriad creatures all rise together and I
watch their return. The teeming
creatures all return to their separate roots.
Returning to one's roots is known as stillness. This is what is meant by returning to one's
destiny. Returning to one's destiny is
known as the constant. Knowledge of the
constant is known as discernment. Woe to
him who wilfully innovates while ignorant of the constant, but should one act
from knowledge of the constant one's action will lead to impartiality,
impartiality to kingliness, kingliness to heaven, heaven to the way, the way to
perpetuity, and to the end of one's days one will meet with no danger. (Tao
Te Ching, 16.)
284. Moses:
The
Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord
deal kindly and graciously with you. The
Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace. (Torah,
Numbers 6:24-26.)
285. Jesus:
Ask,
and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door
will be opened to you. Everyone who asks
receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door
opened....In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have
seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that goes bad, but work
for food that endures for eternal life....It was not Moses who gave you the
bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the
true bread; for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives
life to the world. (Bible, Matthew 7:7-8; John 6:26-27, 32-33.)
286. Socrates: If I did not expect to enter the company,
first, of wise and good gods, and secondly of people now dead who are better
than those who are in this world now, it is true that I should be wrong in not
grieving at death. As it is, you can be
assured that I expect to find myself among good people; I would not insist
particularly on this point, but on the other I assure you that I shall insist
most strongly: that I shall find there divine masters who are supremely
good. That is why I am not so much
distressed as I might be, and why I have a firm hope that there is something in
store for those who have died, and (as we have been told for many years)
something much better for the good than for the wicked. (Phaedo,
63.)
287. Buddha:
Vainly
I sought the builder of my house through countless lives. I could not find him....How hard it is to
tread life after life! But now I see
you, O builder. And never again shall
you build my house....I have...beaten out desire. And now my mind is free. (Dhammapada,
11.)
288. Socrates: Is
not what we call death a freeing and separation of soul from body?…And the
desire to free the soul is found chiefly, or rather only, in the true
philosopher; in fact the philosopher's occupation consists precisely in the
freeing and separation of soul from body.
(Phaedo, 68.)
289.
290. Jesus:
If
anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his
cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to
save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find
it. What, then, will anyone gain by
winning the whole world and forfeiting his life?...For I have not spoken of my
own accord; but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to
speak, and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is
what I speak....In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little
children you will never enter the
291. Buddha:
Want
nothing. Where there is desire, say
nothing. Happiness or sorrow -- whatever
befalls you, walk on untouched, unattached.
Few cross over the river. Most
are stranded on this side. On the
riverbank they run up and down. But the
wise, following the way, cross over, beyond the reach of death. They leave the dark way for the way of
light. (Dhammapada, 6.)
292. Socrates: Do we
believe that there is such a thing as death?…Is it simply the release of the
soul from the body? Is death nothing
more or less than this, the separate condition of the body by itself when it is
released from the soul, and the separate condition by itself of the soul when
released from the body? Is death
anything else than this? (Phaedo, 64.)
293.
294. Socrates: Of
course you know that when a person dies, although it is natural for the visible
and physical part of him, which lies here in the visible world and which we
call his corpse, to decay and fall to pieces and be dissipated, none of this
happens to it immediately….But the soul, the invisible part, which goes away to
a place that is, like itself, glorious, pure, and invisible…into the presence
of the good and wise God…will it, if its very nature is such as I have
described, be dispersed and destroyed at the moment of its release from the
body, as is the popular view? Far from
it….The truth is much more like this: if at its release the soul is pure and
carries with it no contamination of the body…in other words, if it has pursued
philosophy in the right way and really practiced how to face death easily…then
it departs to that place which is, like itself, invisible, divine, immortal and
wise; where, on its arrival, happiness awaits it, and release from uncertainty
and folly, from fears and uncontrolled desires, and all other human evils; and
where…it really spends the rest of time with God. (Phaedo,
81.)
295. Jesus:
In
all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it
remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest....I am
the resurrection. Anyone who believes in
me, even though that person dies, will live, and whoever lives and believes in
me will never die. (Bible, John 12:24-26; 11:25-26.)
296. Buddha:
The
master is awake and he lives forever. He
watches. He is clear. How happy he is. For he sees that wakefulness is life. How happy he is, following the path of the
awakened....So awake, reflect, watch.
Work with care and attention.
Live in the way, and the light will grow in you. (Dhammapada,
2.)
297.
298. Socrates: I
imagine that it would be admitted by everyone…that God at any rate, and the
Form of life, and anything else that is immortal, can never cease to
exist….That since what is immortal is also indestructible, if soul is really
immortal, surely it must be imperishable too….So it appears that when death comes
to one, the mortal part of him dies, but the immortal part retires at the
approach of death and escapes unharmed and indestructible….Then it is as
certain as anything can be…that soul is immortal and imperishable, and that our
souls will really exist in the next world.
(Phaedo, 107.)
299.
300. Buddha:
Go
beyond this way or that way, to the farther shore where the world dissolves and
everything becomes clear. Beyond this
shore and the farther shore, beyond the beyond, where there is no beginning, no
end. Without fear, go. Meditate.
Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work, with mastery. (Dhammapada,
26.)
301.
302. Buddha:
Day
and night the man who is awake shines in the radiance of the spirit....He is
never angry. He keeps his promises....He
offends no one. Yet he speaks the truth. His words are clear but never harsh....He
wants nothing from this world and nothing from the next. He is free.
Desiring nothing, doubting nothing, beyond judgment and sorrow and the
pleasures of the senses, he has moved beyond time. He is pure and free....He has found
peace. Calmly he lets go of life, of
home and pleasure and desire….In him the seed of renewing life has been
consumed….With dispassionate eye he sees everywhere the falling and the
uprising. And with great gladness he
knows that he has finished. He has woken
from his sleep….He has come to the end of the way, over the river of his many
lives, his many deaths....He has come to the end of the way. All that he had to do, he has done. And now he is one. (Dhammapada,
26.)
303. Jesus:
It
is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and
they are life....My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to
complete his work....Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and
drink. As scripture says, “From his
heart shall flow streams of living water....” No one who drinks the water that
I shall give will ever be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will
become a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life. (Bible,
John 6:63; 4:34; 7:37-38; 4:14.)
304.
305. Buddha: Quieten your mind.
Reflect. Watch. Nothing binds you. You are free.
You are strong. You have come to
the end. Free from passion and desire,
you have stripped the thorns from the stem.
This is your last body. You are
wise. You are free from desire and you
understand words and the stitching together of words. And you want nothing. I want nothing. I am free.
I found my way. Whom shall I call
teacher? The gift of truth is beyond
giving. The taste beyond sweetness. The joy beyond joy. (Dhammapada,
24.)
THE TRANSLATIONS
Buddha:
Byron, Thomas, Dhammapada,
1976, Shambhala Publications,
Confucius:
Leys, Simon, The Analects of
Confucius, 1997, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
Jesus:
Darton, Longman, & Todd Ltd., The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985,
Krishna:
Easwaran, Eknath, The Bhagavad
Gita, 1985, Nilgiri Press,
Lao Tzu:
Moses:
The Jewish Publication Society of
Muhammad:
Socrates:
Tredennick, Hugh, The Last
Days of Socrates, 1969, Penguin Books,
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Buddha
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16.
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17.
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Lao Tzu
21.
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22.
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State University of New York Press, 1992).
The translator taught at the
27.
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Shambhala, 1989). The large version
includes the Chinese characters. The
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Moses
31.
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Muhammad
32.
Armstrong, Karen, Muhammad: A
Biography of the Prophet, (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992).
33.
Socrates
34.
Tredennick, Hugh, The Last Days
of Socrates, 1969, Penguin Books,
Related Books
35.
Albom, Mitch, Tuesdays with
Morrie, (New York: Doubleday, 1997).
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d'Aquili,
37.
James, William, The Varieties of
Religious Experience, (New York: Collier MacMillan, 1961).
38.
Kubler-Ross,
39.
Levine, Stephen, A Gradual
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40.
Peck, M. Scott, The Road Less
Traveled, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978).
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42.
Smith, Huston, The World's
Religions, (New York: Harper Collins,1991).
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