—MATTHEW 19:3-6
The unification of a man and a woman for the continuation of humankind is a great and important deed for every individual, as well as for all mankind. You cannot do it as it pleases you, or as you like it. You have to do it in the way which was thought and set out by the wise and holy people who have lived before us.
March 12
The deeds of a person become his life, become his fate. This is the law of our life.
The Persians have such a fable: After death, a soul flew into the sky, and met a terrible woman, a dirty and horrible apparition, with festered sores discharging pus, who was going in the opposite direction. “What are you doing here?” asked the soul. “Who are you?” The terrible woman answered, “I am your deeds.”
It is important not only to talk about the good life but to do good things.
—After the TALMUD
Never postpone a good deed which you can do now, because death does not choose whether you have or haven’t done the things you should have done. Death waits for nobody and nothing. It has neither enemies, nor friends.
—INDIAN WISDOM
When you appeared in this world, you cried, and all the people around you rejoiced. You have to live your life in such a way that when you leave this world, you will rejoice, and all the people around you will cry.
—INDIAN WISDOM
Your past deeds weigh heavily on the future direction of your life; but sometimes, you can change this direction through the effort of your spirit.
March 13
The condition of wisdom is purity; the consequence of wisdom is the peace of your soul.
A man who follows his wishes changes his attitude with time. Very soon he is not satisfied any more with the things he does.
Those people who have nothing to lose are very rich.
—CHINESE PROVERB
A wise person never considers himself to be wise. And a person never considers himself wise when he has the image of God before him.
Wisdom is limitless, and the closer you approach it, the more important it becomes for your life.
A person can always improve himself.
March 14
Love brings people to unification. The universal intellect, which is the same for everyone, supports this unification.
Look around. What do the world’s people think about it? They think about everything except what is most important. They think about dancing, music, and singing; they think about houses, wealth, and power; they are jealous about the wealth of rich people and kings; but they do not think at all about what it means to be human.
—After BLAISE PASCAL
One of the major responsibilities of a person is to make that intellectual spark which you have received from heaven illuminate the world around you.
—CHINESE WISDOM
Everything in this world is the manifestation of the divine intellect.
All that we know, we know through the intellect. Those who do not believe, people who say that you should not follow your intellect, remind me of those who suggest that you turn down the only lantern which shows you the way into the darkness.
March 15
Be filled with love for other people, including those who are unpleasant or hostile to you. A real trial to one’s love is to love your enemies.
If you love your enemies, you will have no enemies.
The most perfect among men is he who loves his neighbor without thinking about whether the person is good or bad.
—MOHAMMED
Be humble and oppose dissipation. Even a thin sword cannot cut soft silk. Using tender words and kindness, you can lead an elephant with a hair.
—MUSLIH-UD-DIN SAADI
Every time you are abused by someone and feel animosity toward him, remember that all people are children of God. Regardless of whether this person is unpleasant to you, you should not stop loving him as your brother, because, as much as you are, he is God’s son.
March 16
Modern science cannot study
everything
; without being supported by religion, science does not know what it should study.
Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.
—After JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
A person who knows little likes to talk, and one who knows much mostly keeps silent.
This is because a person who knows little thinks that everything he knows is important, and wants to tell everyone. A person who knows much also knows that there is much more he doesn’t know. That’s why he speaks only when it is necessary to speak, and when he is not asked questions, he keeps his silence.
If all knowledge were good, then pursuit of every sort of knowledge would be useful. But many false meditations are disguised as good and useful knowledge; therefore, be strict in selecting the knowledge you want to acquire.
March 17
We can improve this world only by distributing the true faith among the world’s people.
—GIUSEPPE MAZZINI
A society cannot live without a united faith and purpose. All social activity cannot really improve our social life if it is not based on the foundations established by religion.
The apostles lived united, in such a way that they shared one heart and soul. If they had not, no one today would know about Christianity. When some pagans did not accept Christianity, it was because they did not see complete unification and love among Christians. We Christians are to blame when other people do not accept the Christian faith.
—After SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Christianity in its pure and sincere form works like dynamite: it blows up old mountains and opens up new, limitless horizons.
If you see that some aspect of your society is bad, and you want to improve it, there is only one way to do so: you have to improve people. And in order to improve people, you begin with only one thing: you can become better yourself.
March 18
Blaming other people is always wrong, because no one knows what has happened and happens in the soul of another person.
We often make judgments about other people. We call one person kind, the other stupid, the third evil, the fourth clever. But we should not do so. A man changes constantly; he flows like a river, and every new day he differs from what he was before. He was stupid and became clever; he was evil and became kind at heart; and so on. You cannot judge another person. The moment you blame him, he becomes someone different.
If you want to correct your failings, you do not have the time to waste in blaming other people.
Never blame your neighbor until you have been in his place.
—The TALMUD
Forgive other people for many things, but do not forgive yourself anything.
—PUBLILIUS SYRUS
I know of myself that I do not wish to do evil. If I do evil, it is because I cannot restrain myself. It is the same with other people: they usually do evil because they cannot restrain themselves from evil. Therefore, why do I think badly of other people? Why should I blame them?