Great Throughts Treasury

"How wonderful is a son who obeys his father!"

"How happy he is of whom it is said: 'a son is kind-natured when he knows how to listen.'"

"If thou be a leader, as one directing the conduct of the multitude, endeavor always to be gracious, that thine own conduct be without defect. Great is truth, appointing a straight path; never hath it been overthrown since the reign of Osiris."

"If he who listens, listens fully, then he who listens becomes he who understands."

"If you are a man of trust, sent by one great man to another, adhere to the nature of him who sent you, give his message as he said it. Guard against reviling speech, which embroils one great with another; keep to the truth, don't exceed it, but an outburst should not be repeated."

"If you are a man who leads, listen calmly to the speech of one who pleads; don't stop him from purging his body of that which he planned to tell. A man in distress wants to pour out his heart more than that his case be won. About him who stops a plea one says: "why does he reject it?" not all one pleads for can be granted, but a good hearing soothes the heart."

"If you probe the character of a friend, don't inquire, but approach him, deal with him alone, so as not to suffer from his manner. Dispute with him after a time, test his heart in conversation; if what he has seen escapes him, if he does a thing that annoys you, be yet friendly with him, don't attack; be restrained, don't let fly, don't answer with hostility, neither part from him nor attack him; his time does not fail to come, one does not escape what is fated."

"If you are mighty, gain respect through knowledge and through gentleness of speech. Don't command except as is fitting, he who provokes gets into trouble. Don't be haughty, lest you be humbled, don't be mute, lest you be chided. When you answer one who is fuming, avert your face, control yourself. The flame of the hot-heart sweeps across, he who steps gently, his path is paved. He who frets all day has no happy moment, he who's gay all day can't keep house."

"If you want friendship to endure in the house you enter as master, brother, or friend, in whatever place you enter, beware of approaching the women! Unhappy is the place where it is done, unwelcome is he who intrudes on them. A thousand men are turned away from their good: a short moment like a dream, then death comes for having known them."

"If you work hard, and if growth takes place as it should in the fields, it is because god has placed abundance in your hands."

"If you want a perfect conduct, to be free from every evil, guard against the vice of greed: a grievous sickness without cure, there is no treatment for it. It embroils fathers, mothers, and the brothers of the mother, it parts wife from husband; it is a compound of all evils, a bundle of all hateful things. That man endures whose rule is rightness, who walks a straight line; he will make a will by it, the greedy has no tomb."

"If you are a man who leads, who controls the affairs of the many, seek out every beneficent deed, that your conduct may be blameless. Great is justice, lasting in effect, unchallenged since the time of osiris. One punishes the transgressor of laws, though the greedy overlooks this; baseness may seize riches, yet crime never lands its wares; in the end it is justice that lasts, man says: "it is my father's ground.''"

"Listening benefits the listener."

"If you are among the people, gain supporters through being trusted; the trusted man who does not vent his belly's speech, he will himself become a leader. A man of means?what is he like? Your name is good, you are not maligned, your body is sleek, your face benign, one praises you without your knowing. He whose heart obeys his belly puts contempt of himself in place of love, his heart is bald, his body unannointed."

"Injustice exists in abundance, but evil can never succeed in the long run."

"It is the obedient man that obeyeth what is said; he that loveth to obey, the same shall carry out commands."

"Love your wife with passion."

"Obedience is better than all things that are; it maketh good-will."

"Punish firmly, chastise soundly, then repression of crime becomes an example; punishment except for crime turns the complainer into an enemy."

"May your heart never be vain because of what you know. Take counsel from the ignorant as well as the wise..."

"Only speak when you have something worth saying."

"That which is desired by the god is obedience; disobedience is abhorred of the god."

"So do not place any confidence in your heart in the accumulation of riches, since everything that you have is a gift from god."

"One who is serious all day will never have a good time, while one who is frivolous all day will never establish a household."

"Report your commission without faltering, give your advice in your master's council. . . If he is fluent in his speech, it will not be hard for the envoy to report, nor will he be answered, "who is he to know it?" as to the master, his affairs will fail if he plans to punish him for it, he should be silent upon hearing: "i have told.''"

"Punish with principle, teach meaningfully. The act of stopping evil leads to the lasting establishment of virtue."

"The human race never accomplishes anything. It's what god commands that gets done."

"There is no craftsman who has acquired full mastery"

"Think of living in peace with what you possess, and whatever the gods choose to give will come of its own accord."

"Those who[m] the gods guide cannot get lost. Those they forbid passage will not be able to cross the river of life."

"Those whom god guides do not go wrong. Those whose boat he takes away cannot cross."

"To listen is better than anything, thus is born perfect love."

"Well respected is the man whose measure is righteousness, and whose change is directed accordingly."

"To resist him that is set in authority is evil."

"Verily, it is the heart that maketh its master to obey or to disobey; for the safe and sound life of a man are his heart."