December 22, 2012
Golden: Holiday message
Advertiser

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Amid this season of kind feelings, we often reprint a universal message that has been voiced by all the world's major religions and many philosophers. Christianity calls it the Golden Rule. It's a profound message for this season of caring -- and every day. Here, in historical order, is the maxim espoused in many languages:

"That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself." -- Zoroaster, Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5, Persia, c. 600 B.C.

"What you do not want others to do to you, do not do to others." -- Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean XIII and Analects 15:23, China, c. 500 B.C.

"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." -- Buddha, Udana-Varga 5:18, India, c. 500 B.C.

"Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you." -- Isocrates, Greece, 375 B.C.

"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." -- T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, Taoist, China, c. 200 B.C.

"What thou thyself hatest, do to no man." -- Tobit IV, apocryphal Hebrew scripture, 180 B.C.

"This is the sum of all true righteousness: Deal with others as you would yourself be dealt. Do nothing to your neighbor which you would not have him do to you." -- Mahabharata 5:1517, Hindu, India, 150 B.C.

"The question was once put to Aristotle how we ought to behave to our friends, and his answer was: 'As we should wish them to behave to us.'" -- Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers, 150 B.C.

"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire law; all the rest is commentary." -- Hillel Ha-Babli, Talmud, Shabbat 31a, Hebrew, 30 B.C.

"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." -- Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:18, c. 50 A.D.

"No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." -- Sunnah supplement to the Islamic Quran, after 700 A.D.

Recommended Stories

Copyright 2012 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Popular Videos
The Gazette now offers Facebook Comments on its stories. You must be logged into your Facebook account to add comments. If you do not want your comment to post to your personal page, uncheck the box below the comment. Comments deemed offensive by the moderators will be removed, and commenters who persist may be banned from commenting on the site.
Advertisement - Your ad here
Get Daily Headlines by E-Mail
Sign up for the latest news delivered to your inbox each morning.
Advertisement - Your ad here
News Videos
Advertisement - Your ad here
Advertisement - Your ad here