Great Throughts Treasury

"Purity is for man, next to life, the greatest good, that purity that is procured by the law of Mazda to him who cleanses his own self with good thoughts, words and deeds."

"A knife of the keenest steel requires the whetstone, and the wisest man needs advice."

"A good deed is like peeing in your pants. Everyone knows you did it, but only you can feel it's warmth."

"A reflective, contented mind is the best possession."

"A righteous government is of all the most to be wished for, bearing of blessing and good fortune in the highest. Guided by the law of Truth, supported by dedication and zeal, it blossoms into the Best of Order, a Kingdom of Heaven! To effect this I shall work now and ever more."

"Abiding happiness and peace is theirs who choose goodness for its own sake - without expectation of any reward."

"A thousand people cannot convince one by words to the extent that one person can convince a thousand by action."

"Ability in a man is knowledge which emanates from divine light."

"Be good, be kind, be humane, and charitable; love your fellows; console the afflicted; pardon those who have done you wrong."

"Alas, there are so many things between heaven and earth of which only the poets have dreamed. And especially above the heavens: for all gods are poets' parables, poets' prevarications."

"But thus I counsel you, my friends: Mistrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful."

"Blessed is one who adds to the happiness of another."

"And whoever does not want to die of thirst among men must learn to drink out of all cups; and whoever would stay clean among men must know how to wash even with dirty water."

"All flows out from the Deity, and all must be absorbed in Him again."

"By Thy perfect Intelligence, O Mazda Thou didst first create us having bodies and spiritual consciences, and by Thy Thought gave ourselves the power of thought, word, and deed. Thus leaving us free to choose our faith at our own will."

"Do not hold grain waiting for higher prices when people are hungry."

"Devotion, like fire, goeth upward."

"Doing good to others is not a duty, it is a joy, for it increases our own health and happiness."

"Error is frail."

"For a thinking man is where Wisdom is at home."

"Excessive liberty and excessive servitude are equally dangerous, and produce nearly the same effect."

"For any human being, the purification of character is done thus . . . with good thoughts, good words, good deeds."

"Happiness comes to them who bring happiness to others."

"He who abhors and shuns the light of the Sun, He who refuses to behold with respect the living creation of God, He who leads the good to wickedness, He who makes the meadows waterless and the pastures desolate, He who lets fly his weapon against the innocent, An enemy of my faith, a destroyer of Thy principles is he, O Lord!"

"He who upholds Truth with all the might of his power, He who upholds Truth the utmost in his word and deed, He, indeed, is Thy most valued helper, O Mazda Ahura!"

"Form no covetous desire, so that the demon of greediness may not deceive thee, and the treasure of the world may not be tasteless to thee."

"Hearken with your ears to these best counsels, reflect upon them with illumined judgment. Let each one choose his creed with that freedom of choice each must have at great events."

"He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers."

"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."

"I praise good thoughts, good words, and good deeds and those that are to be thought, spoken, and done. I do accept all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. I do renounce all evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds."

"I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance."

"I tell you: one must have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star."

"I who have set my heart on watching over the soul, in union with Good Thought, and as knowing the rewards of Mazda Ahura for our works, will, while I have power and strength, teach men to seek after Right. I have become an alien in a foreign land."

"In the beginning there were two primal spirits, twins spontaneously active, these are the Good and the Evil, in thought, and in word, and in deed."

"In doubt if an action is just, abstain."

"It is the stillest words that bring on the storm. Thoughts that come on doves' feet guide the world."

"Love came up to me showing me that a contented mind is best for growth."

"It is the Path of the Good Mind which Thou hast manifested to me, O Ahura! Whereby the well-doers, in accordance with the teaching of the Spiritual Guides, acting in harmony with Truth alone, Shall pass onward to the assigned reward of which Thou art the bestower, O Mazda! This precious reward of Thine, O Mazda, Thou givest by way of the Good Mind, Thou givest to those who perform actions through knowledge and pure thought; who attempt for the progress and development of the world; fulfill God's desire and try for the progress of God's Will through truth and righteousness."

"Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves in vision as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action. And between these two the wise ones chose aright, the foolish not so."

"Let us be such as help the life of the future"

"None who knows what moves and works Thy lofty plans."

"Since, O Mazda, from the beginning, Thou didst create soul and body; mental power and knowledge and since Thou didst place life within the corporeal body and didst bestow to mankind the power to act, speak and guide, you wished that everyone should choose his or her own faith and path freely ."

"Satisfaction linked with dishonor or with harm to others is a prison for the seeker."

"So conscience for the sinner distorts the truth of the upright, but (his) soul is in agony at the judgment of the Chinvat Bridge, having strayed by his own deeds and tongue from the Path of Righteousness."

"Suffer no anxiety, for he who is a sufferer of anxiety becomes regardless of enjoyment of the world and the spirit, and contraction happens to his body and soul."

"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."

"The resolute one who moved by the principles of Thy Faith extends the prosperity of order to his neighbors and works the land the evil now hold desolate, earns through Righteousness, the Blessed Recompense. Thy Good Mind has promised in Thy Kingdom of Heaven."

"Taking the first footstep with a good thought the second with a good word and the third with a good deed I entered Paradise."

"The teacher of evil destroys the lore, he by his teaching destroys the design of life, he prevents the possession of Good Thought from being prized. These words of my spirit I wail unto you, O Mazda, and to the Right."

"The three greatest concerns of men are these: to make him who is an enemy a friend, to make righteous him who is wicked, and to make the ignorant learned."