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When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry.

Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast but of the things which thou hast select the best, and then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought, if thou hadst them not.

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In everything which happens keep before thy eyes those to whom the same things happened, and how they were vexed, and treated them as strange things, and found fault with them and now where are they? Nowhere.

It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible.

Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.

Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.

When thou art offended with any man's shameless conduct, immediately ask thyself, Is it possible then that shameless men should not be in the world? It is not possible. Do not then require what is impossible.

When thou hast assumed these names, good, modest, true, rational, a man of equanimity, and magnanimous, take care that thou dost not change these names; and if thou shouldst lose them, quickly return to them. No longer talk about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.

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The safety of life is this, to examine everything all through, what it is itself, what is its material, what its formal part; with all thy soul to do justice and to say the truth. What remains except to enjoy life by joining one

good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?

How small a part of the boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man? for it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the whole substance? and how small a part of the universal soul? and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest? Reflecting on all this, consider nothing to be great, except to act as thy nature leads thee, and to endure that which the common nature brings.

OPINIONS OF THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

(About the seventh century.)

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"THE Pahlavi phrase, Dînâ-î Maînôg-î Khirad, Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom," " says E. W. West, from whose translation the following selections are taken, "is a name applied to sixty-two enquiries, or series of enquiries, on subjects connected with the religion of the Mazda-worshippers, made by an anonymous wise man and answered by the Spirit of Wisdom. . . . By the Spirit of Wisdom the author means the innate wisdom of Aûharmazd. . . . It was originally created by Aûharmazd, and is superior to the archangels. . . The author was evidently a devoted Mazdaworshipper, and probably a layman. . . . Whether he wrote before or after the Arab conquest of Persia (A. d. 632–651) is doubtful." Two translations of this work have been made by Mr. West. The later one, from the original Pahlavi text, appeared in 1885, in the great collection of "The Sacred Books of the East," edited by Professor Max Müller. It is from the introduction to this that the quotations above are taken. The earlier translation, published in 1871, was from an Indian (Pâzand-Sanskrit) version, in which the work bears the name Mainyô-î Khard. The following Rules of Life were selected from the last-mentioned translation by Mr. Moncure D. Conway for his "Sacred Anthology," and are here borrowed from that compilation.

RULES OF LIFE.

The sage asked the Spirit of Wisdom, How is it possible to seek the preservation and prosperity of the body, without injury to the soul, and the deliverance of the soul without injury of the body?

The Spirit of Wisdom replied:

Slander not, lest ill-fame and wickedness come to thee

therefrom; for it is said every other demon attacks in the front, but Slander, which assaults from behind.

Form no covetous desire, that avarice may not deceive thee, and that the benefit of the world may not be tasteless to thee, and that of the spirit unheeded.

Practice not wrathfulness, since a man, when he practises wrath, becomes then forgetful of his duties and good works.

Suffer not anxiety, since he that is anxious is heedless of the enjoyment of the world and of the spirit, and decay results to his body and soul.

Commit no lustfulness, lest, from thine own actions, injury and regret come to thee.

Bear no envy, that life may not be tasteless for thee. Commit no sin through shame.

Practice not slothful sleep, lest the duties and good works which it is necessary for thee to do remain undone. Utter no ill-timed gossip.

Be diligent and discreet, and eat of thine own regular industry; and form a portion for God and the good. This practice, in thy occupation, is the greatest good work.

Plunder not from the wealth of others, lest thy own industry become unheeded; since it is said that whoever eats anything not from his own regular industry, but from another, is as one who devours men's heads.

With enemies, struggle with equity.

With friends, proceed with their approbation.

With a malicious man, carry on no conflict, and nowise molest him.

With the covetous man, be not a partner, and trust him not with the leadership.

With an ignorant man, be not a confederate; with a foolish man, make no dispute; from an ill-natured man, take no loan.

With a slanderer, go not to the door of kings.

MAIMONIDES

(A. D. 1135–1204.)

MOSES BEN MAIMON, or MAIMONIDES, the greatest of mediæval Jews, was born in Cordova, Spain, A. D. 1135, while that city remained in possession of the Moors, and during the reign of the Almoravides. On the fall of the Almoravid dynasty, which occurred in 1147, the more fanatical Almohades, then in power, began religious persecutions which drove the family of Maimonides, with other Jews, from the country. Moses settled finally at Fostat (Cairo), where the remainder of his life (which ended A. D. 1204) was spent. He became famous as a physician and as a scholar, and was the recognized spiritual head of the Jews of Cairo. He was a writer of extraordinary diligence, and his works, religious, philosophical, and medical, are numerous and extensive. His lasting fame rests mainly on the great philosophical treatise entitled "Mōrēh Nebūhchīm, or "Guide of the Perplexed," the importance of which in the history of philosophical thought has been increasingly recognized within recent times. An English translation of the work, by M. Friedländer, was published in 1885.

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MAIMONIDES, TO HIS SON IN HIS LAST WILL.

Let me implore you to discern the excellency of light over darkness, to reject death and evil, and to choose life and good; for the option is given to you! Accustom yourself to good morals, for the nature of man dependeth upon habit, and habit taketh root in nature. Know ye that the perfection of the body precedes the perfection of the soul, and is like the key which openeth the inner saloon. Let, therefore, the chief purpose of perfecting your

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