Philosophy

"Thesis. The freedom of the person, according to the Conception of Rights, is limited only by the possibility that other persons are also to also with him as free persons, and hence as also having rights. Whatsoever does not violate the rights of another, each person has the right to do, and this, indeed, constitutes each person's right. Each one, moreover, has the right to judge for himself what is, and to defend, by his own powers, what he so judges to be, the limit of his free actions."

"Thesis. — The state guarantees to each citizen, who contributes toward the protection of the state and to the support of the poor, the absolute and unlimited property of the remainder of his possession. Each must have the right to waste, destroy, or throw away what belongs to him, provided he thereby inflicts no injury upon other citizens."

"The circle was this: The possibility of mutually liberating each other on the part of the offended and the offender is conditioned by the knowledge of their whole future; but this knowledge, again, is impossible, unless they mutually liberate each other. The method, which has been prescribed by the Science of Knowledge, tells us synthetically to unite both opposites, and thus to get rid of the contradiction. A synthesis of this kind would be, in our case: the mutual liberation of both parties and the knowledge of the whole future must be one and the same; or, in other words, this mutual liberation must involve of itself and guarantee the whole future, whereof knowledge is desired."

"I believe that most of us tend to underrate the evilness of suffering. The reason is that it is difficult for us, when not actually suffering, to recollect what suffering really is. We employ numerous psychological mechanisms to conceal from our consciousness the true nature or meaning of suffering, to falsify and deny it. We do this without renouncing the word, however. The word comes to designate, in our minds, only a faint copy or superficial image of the real thing; but having forgotten what the original is, we mistake it in the copy. We ascribe to "suffering" a certain gravity of evil; but it is slight compared to what we would ascribe to suffering itself, if we could only recall its true meaning."

"The falsification of suffering is everywhere—in movies, in poetry, in novels, on the nightly news. Accounts of disaster routinely veer from a discussion of the agony and plight of the victims (which quickly becomes tiresome) to the description of some moving act of kindness or bravery. Often it is these descriptions that affect us the most and that provoke the greatest outburst of emotion. These are the images we often take away and that become our image of "suffering." Suffering comes to be closely associated with stirring images of hope in adversity, acts of moral heroism and touching kindness, gestures of human dignity, sentiments of noble sympathy and tremulous concern, the comfort and consolation of tears. It turns into something beautiful. It becomes poetry. People begin to refer to "sublime suffering." Suffering, in other words, becomes just exactly what it is not."

"How is synthesis conceivable without presupposing thesis and antithesis?"

"If you have moral clarity, you aren't in deep enough."

"Until recently, “moral clarity” was more likely to signal combativeness toward the left, not from it: It served for decades as a badge of membership among conservative hawks and cultural crusaders. But in the Trump era, militant certainty takes precedence achross the political spectrum."

"What adrenaline does for the body, moral clarity does for semantics."

"1. The Light of Asia, by Edwin Arnold, London (1879)...; 2. The Secret of Death... (1885)...; 3. H.P. Blavatsky...; 4. “The Bhagavad Gita”...; 5. “Sutta Nipata" (Buddhist scripture...); 6. Dhammapada...; 7. Pensees (Thoughts), by Blaise Pascal (1657-8)...; 8. Maxims, by François VI de La Rochefoucauld (1678)...; 9. Locksley Hall, by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1835)...; 10. The Gulistan (Rose Garden of Paradise), by Musle-Huddeen Sheik Saadi оf Shiraz (1258)...; 11. In Memoriam A.H.H., by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1849)...; 12. A Practical Grammar of the Turkish Language, by Dr. Charles Wells, London (1880)...; 13. Lucifer, monthly magazine London...; 14. Javidan Khirad... (10,000 – 7,500 B.C.)...; 15. Udanavarga...; 16. MahaMangala Sutta...; 17. The Upanishads, translated byF. Max Muller,(1884) ...; 18. Yajnavalkya-Smriti... dated to between the 3rd to 5th-century CE...; 19. The Vishnu Purana...; 20. The Path...; 21. Vasettha Sutta...; 22. Saddharma-Pundarika (The Lotus of the True Law)...; 23. Kabalistic Axiom...; 24.Vasala Sutta...; 25. “Sutra of the 42 Chapters...; 26. Rigveda...; 27. Cato, by Joseph Addison...; 28. The Conduct of Life, by R.W. Emerson (1860)...; 29. Anugita...; 30. The Voice of the Silence, by H.P. Blavatsky (1889)...; 31. Metamorhoses, by Ovid, 2-8 AD...; 32. Sanatsugatiya...; 33. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Routledge, 1887...; 34. Queen Mab, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1813...; 35. The Babylonian Talmud, tractate “Shabbath”...; 36. The Guide of the Perplexed, by Moses Maimonides (c. 1190)...; 37. The Ordinances of Manu (Laws of Manu)..."

"The book Gems from the East was published in 1890 in London and New York. Since then it has been republished many times and has been translated into many languages... it contains the wisdom of different nations and ages. She (HPB) widely used The Sacred Books of the East (SBE)– the prolific series of fifty volumes which has translations of key sacred texts including: Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism , Jainism, and Islam. The series was edited by the famous linguist and scholar of comparative religion, Max Müller, who is also well known by scholars of The Secret Doctrine. SBE was published by Oxford University Press during 1879—1910 years, but as we know HPB would take material for her works right from manuscripts without waiting for the final published version and exact quotations prove this (considering further editors’ minor corrections)."

"Some of the aphorisms were included in The Golden Rules of Buddhism (compiled by H. S. Olcott, Adyar, 1887) and were taken from this source instead of the original... The following 37 sources, listed in the below bibliography, are in the order that they appear in the book."

"Hatred is never quenched by hatred; hatred ceases by showing love; this is an old rule."

"The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind by passion. Blessed are the patient, and the passionless."

"The virtuous man who is happy in this life, is sure to be still happier in his next."

"One proof is better than ten arguments."

"Rain in the morn brings the sun after noon. He who weeps today, may laugh tomorrow."

"A thousand regrets will not pay thy debts."

"To feel one's ignorance is to be wise; to feel sure of one's wisdom is to be a fool."

"Like oil, truth often floats on the surface of the lie. Like clear water, truth often underlies the seeming falsehood."

"A student without inclination for work is like a squirrel on its wheel; he makes no progress."

"A traveller without observation is a bird without wings."

"Often vinegar got for nothing, is sweeter to the poor man than honey bought."

"A learned man without pupils, is a tree which bears no fruit; a devotee without good works, is a dwelling without a door."

"Behold, we know not anything; I can but trust that good shall fall At last — far off — at last, to all, And every winter change to spring."

"So runs my dream: but what am I? An infant crying in the night: An infant crying for the light: And with no language but a cry."

"What ought to be done is neglected, what ought not to be done is done. The sins of the unruly are ever increasing."

"Two things are impossible in this world of Maya: to enjoy more than Karma hath allotted; to die before one's hour hath struck."

"Every tree hath its shadow, every sorrow its joy."

"The path of virtue lies in the renunciation of the seven great sins."

"Narrowness of mind causes stubbornness; we do not easily believe what is beyond that which we see."

"The soul ripens in tears."

"This is truth the poet sings — That a sorrow's crown of sorrows / Is remembering happier things."

"Flattery is a false coin which circulates only because of our vanity."

"To every man that is born, an axe is born in his mouth, by which the fool cuts himself, when speaking bad language."

"He who hath too many friends, hath as many candidates for enemies."

"It is not every graceful form that contains as graceful a disposition."

"All our dignity consists in thought, therefore let us contrive to think well; for that is the principle of morals."

"The Precepts and Aphorisms, compiled by "H.P.B.," are culled chiefly from Oriental writings considered to embody, in part, teachings which are now attracting so much attention in the West, and for the diffusion of which the Theosophical Society is mainly responsible... It contains a Precept or an Axiom for every day in the year; lines of a Theosophical nature, selected from sources not invariably Oriental, preface each month... It is hoped that our efforts will meet with approval from all lovers of the good and beautiful, and that they may not be without effect in the cause of TRUTH."

"UTTISHAT! — Rise! Awake! Seek the great Teachers, and attend! The road Is narrow as a knife-edge! Hard to tread! But whoso once perceiveth HIM that IS; — Without a name, Unseen, Impalpable, Bodiless, Undiminished, Unenlarged, To senses undeclared, without an end, Without beginning, Timeless, Higher than height, Deeper than depth! Lo! Such an one is saved! Death hath not power upon him!"

"The heart which follows the rambling senses leads away his judgment as the wind leads a boat astray upon the waters."

"As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals."

"Every man thinks his own wisdom faultless, and every mother her own child beautiful."

"He who casts off all desires, living free from attachments, and free from egoism, obtains bliss."

"The best possession of the man of clay is health; the highest virtue of the man of spirit is truthfulness."

"Having tasted the sweetness of illusion and tranquillity, one becomes free from fear, and free from sin, drinking in the sweetness of Dhamma (law)."

"False friendship is like a parasitic plant, it kills the tree it embraces."

"Without Karma, no fisherman could catch a fish; outside of Karma, no fish would die on dry land, or in boiling water."

"A narrow stomach may be filled to its satisfaction, but a narrow mind will never be satisfied, not even with all the riches of the world."

"Man walks on, and Karma follows him along with his shadow."