Gems.

Freethought Review, Volume I, Issue 2, 1 November 1883, Page 14

Gems.

To a man contaminated by sensuality neither the Vedas, nor liberality, nor sacrifices, nor stri(ft observances, nor pious austerities will procure felicity.— Menu. The true sage dwells upon earth as the bee that gathers sweetness with his mouth and wings, without harming the color and perfume of the flowers. — Buddha. Return bad treatment with equity and remember kindness with kindness. Never do to others what you would not have others do to you. Fix thy thoughts on duty ; practice without ceasing the virtue of humanity, and if you have leisure cultivate the arts. —Confucius. As the earth supports those who trample it under foot and rend its bosom with the plough, we should return good for evil. Let the right hand of the good man be always open to the poor and the unhappy ; and let him never boast of his benefits. — Chrishna. Forsake all evil; bring forth good ; master thine own thoughts ; such is Buddha’s path to the end of all pain. Overcome evil with good, the avaricious with generosity, the falsehood with truth. One day of endeavour is better than a hundred years of slot!.—Buddha. In all things let reason be your guide. In everything you do consider the end. Study excellence and aim at acquiring it. Reverence thy parents. Cherish thy friends. Laws are like cobwebs which entangle the lesser sort; the greater break through.— Solon. Strength of mind depends upon sobriety, for this keeps reason unclouded by passion. Youth should be habituated to obedience, for it will then find it easy to obey the authority of reason. Every man ought to adt and speak with such integrity that no one would have occasion to doubt his simple affirmation.—Pythagoras, Do what you think to be right whatever people think of you. Despise alike their censure and their praise. The rational mind of man is more excellent than this sensitive soul, as the sun is more excellent than the stars ; the discourse of a philosopher is vain if no passion of man is healed thereby.—Pythagoras. Do not allow thyself to be carried away with anger. Reply to thy enemies with gentleness. Take not that which belongs to another. Contend constantly against evil. Succour the poor and refuse not hospitality. Avoid everything calculated to injure others. Have no companionship with a man who injures his neighbors. —Zoroaster. O beloved Pan, and all ye other gods of the place, grant me to become beautiful in the inner man, and that whatever outward things I may have may be at peace with those within. May I deem the wise man rich, and may I have such portion of gold as none but a prudent man can either bear or employ. Do we need anything else, Phaedrus ? For myself, I have prayed enough.—Socrates The perfectly just man is he who loves justice for its own sake, not for the honors and advantages which attend it , who is willing to pass for unjust while he practices the most exaCt justice ; who will not suffer himself to be moved by disgrace or distress, but will continue steadfast in the love of justice not because it is pleasant, but because it is right.— Plato. We are created for the sake of mankind and to be useful to each other. Nature endears man to man. Nothing is more natural to man than kindness. Knowledge seems isolated and barren unless accompanied by love of all men and trust in our common brotherhood. All men are plainly bound together. Duty is always performed when the advantage of mankind is sought. He is a good man who benefits as many people as possible and harms nobody. True philosophers have not neglected the advantages and interests of mankind. Care for other men and serve the common brotherhood. Nothing is so much in accord with nature as utility. The standard of utility is the same as that of morality. Whatever is useful is virtuous, though it does not at first seem so.— Cicero.

If you are handsome, do handsome things; if deformed, supply the defedls of your nature your virtues. Be slow in undertaking, and resolute in executing. Praise not a worthless man for the sake of his wealth.— Bias. Goethe condemned the practice of congratulation upon marriage. “It is” he said, “as absurd as congratulating a man on having drawn a lottery ticket before you know whether it is a prize or a blank.” Sound health, moderate fortune, and a mind stored with knowledge—these are the grand ingredients of happiness. True happiness consists in pprfedl health, a moderate fortune, and a life free from effeminacy and ignorance.— Thales. Friends are one soul in two bodies. A virtuous life is itself a source of delight. The purest and noblest pleasure is that which a good man derives for virtuous actions. Happiness consists in conduct conformable to virtue. —Aristotle. Extreme Unction—a most venerable sacrament of the Romish Church, and very efficacious in frightening the dying. It consists principally in greasing the brogans of those who are about departing on a journey to another world.— Voltaire. Prefer labor to idleness, unless you would prefer rust to brightness. The truly learned are not those who read much, but those who read what is useful. Young people should be taught those things that will be useful to them when they become men.— Aristippus. If we are to seek no subterfuges, if we are not to halt between two opinions, if our yea is to be Yea, and our nay Nay—if we are to speak as honorable and straightforward men—then we must recognize the fact that we are no longer Christians.— Strauss. Love is the god which gives the greatest safety. A true philosopher, unless prevented, will faithfully serve the state. Most people seek in the tavern for that pleasure which is to be found in labor. Whether the slave has become so by conquest or by purchase, the master’s title is bad. —Zeno. The Edinburgh Review, in a paper on the prosecution of the Jews, truly states that “ proselytes from Judaism are very rare.” If the new Jerusalem does not descend until all the sons of Israel are enlisted under the banner of the cross, it may not be expected until the Greek Kalends, at the present rate of progression. —The Freethinker. Woman in the Christian system “ was represented (Lecky, Plist. Morals, vol. ii, pp. 338 —40,) as the door of hell, as the mother of all human ills. She should be ashamed of the very thought that she is a woman. She should live in continual penance on account of the curses she has brought upon the world. She should be ashamed of her dress, for it is the memorial of her fall. She should especially be ashamed of her beauty, for it is the most potent instrument of the demon,”