THE GOLDEN RULE
JESUS CHRIST:
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
"Jesus said to him,
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your mind
and with all your soul… and You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
(Jesus Christ, Matthew 22:36-40)
BAHA'U'LLAH:
"O son of man! If
thine eyes be turned towards mercy, forsake the things that profit thee and
cleave unto that which will profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards
justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for
thyself."
(Baha'u'llah, The third Leaf of the Most Exalted Paradise, Tablets, p. 64)
BUDDHISM:
"Hurt not others
with that which pains yourself or in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.
One should seek for others the happiness ones desires for one's self"
(Udana-Varqa, 5:18)
HINDUISM:
"This is the sum of
duty: do naught unto others that which would cause pain if done unto you."
(Mahabharata 5:1517)
"Do not to others
what ye do not wish done to yourself; and wish for others too, what ye desire
and long for, for yourself. This is the whole of Dharma, heed it well."
(The Celestial Song, 2:65)
ZOROASTRIANISM:
"That nature ONLY is
good when it shall NOT DO unto another whatever is not good for its own
self."
(Dadistan-i-Dinik, 94:5)
"Whatsoever is
disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others."
(Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29)
That which is good for all and any one, for whomsoever - that is good for me.
What I hold good for self, I should for all. Only Law Universal, is true
Law."
(Zoroaster, Yasana-Gathas)
JAINIST:
"A man should wander
about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated."
(Sutrakritanga 1.11.33)
SIKH:
"Precious like
jewels are the minds of all. To hurt them is not at all good. If thou desirest
thy Beloved, then hurt thou not anyone's heart."
(Guru Aranj Devji 259, Guru Granth Sahib)
CONFUCIANISM:
"Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you."
(Analects, 15:23)
"If one strives to
treat others as he would be treated by them, he will come near the perfect
life."
(Book of Meng Tzu)
WESTERN SCHOOLS:
"What you wish your
neighbors to be to you, such be also to them."
(Pythagorean)
"We should conduct
ourselves toward others as we would have them act toward us."
(Aristotle, from Plato and Socrates)
"Avoid doing what
you would blame others for doing."
(Thales)
"Do not to your
neighbor what you would take ill from him."
(Pittacus)
"Cherish reciprocal
benevolence, which will make you as anxious for another's welfare as your
own"
(Aristippus of Cyrene).
"Act toward others
as you desire them to act toward you"
(Isocrates)
TAO:
"Pity the misfortunes of others; rejoice in the well-being of others; help those who are in want; save men in danger; rejoice at the success of others; and sympathise with their reverses, even as though YOU WERE in their place."
"The sage has no
interests of his own, but regards the interests of the people as his own. He is
kind to the kind, he is also kind to the unkind: for virtue is kind."
(T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien)
NATIVE AMERICAN:
"Love your friend
and never desert him. If you see him surrounded by the enemy do not run away;
go to him, and if you cannot save him, be killed together and let your bones
lie side by side."
(Sur-AR-Ale-Shar, The Lessons of the Lone Chief)
"Do not kill or
injure your neighbor, for it is not him that you injure, you injure yourself.
But do good to him, therefore add to his days of happiness as you add to your
own. Do not wrong or hate your neighbor, for it is not him that you wrong, you
wrong yourself. But love him, for The Great Spirit (Moneto) loves him also as
he loves you."
(Shawnee)
"Respect for all
life is the foundation."
(The Great Law of Peace)
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION:
"A SAGE is ingenuous
and leads his life after comprehending the parity of the killed and the killer.
THEREFORE, neither does he cause violence to others nor does he make others do
so."
(Yoruba Proverb, Nigeria)
"One going to take a
pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how
it hurts."
(Yoruba Proverb, Nigeria)
ISLAM:
"Not one of you is a
believer until he desires for another that which he desires for himself."
(Muhammad, 40 Hadith of an-Nawawi 13)
"Do unto all men as
you would they should do unto you, and reject for them that which you would
reject for yourself."
(Mishkat-el-Masabih)
JUDAISM:
"What is hateful to
you, DO NOT to your fellow man. That is the law: all the rest is
commentary."
(Talmud, Shabbat 31a)
"Thou shalt LOVE thy
neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD."
(Moses, Leviticus 19:18)
CHRISTIANITY:
"All things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
(Matthew 7:12)
"Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you."
(Luke 6:31)
BAHA'I WORLD FAITH:
"Blessed is he who
preferreth his brother before himself."
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets, p. 71)
"Lay not on any soul
a load which ye would not wish to be laid on you, and desire not for any one
the things ye would not desire for yourselves."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings LXVI, p. 128)
"Ascribe not to any
soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which
thou doest not. This is my command unto thee, do thou observe it."
(Baha'u'llah, The Hidden Words, Arabic # 29)
"Choose for thy
neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself."
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 30)

