Judaism
Ecclesiastes 10
Text
Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumer fetid and putrid; So doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour.
A wise man’s understanding is at his right hand; but a fool’s understanding at his left.
Yea also, when a fool walketh by the way, his understanding faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for gentleness allayeth great offences.
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceedeth from a ruler:
Folly is set on great heights, and the rich sit in low place.
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh through a fence, a serpent shall bite him.
Whoso quarrieth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby.
If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength; but wisdom is profitable to direct.
If the serpent bite before it is charmed, then the charmer hath no advantage.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is grievous madness.
A fool also multiplieth words; yet man knoweth not what shall be; And that which shall be after him, Who can tell him?
The labour of fools wearieth every one of them, for he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a boy, And thy princes feast in the morning! .
Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is a free man, And thy princes eat in due season, In strength, and not in drunkenness!
By slothfulness the rafters sink in; And through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.
A feast is made for laughter, And wine maketh glad the life; And money answereth all things.
Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought, And curse not the rich in thy bedchamber; For a bird of the air shall carry the voice, And that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.”
Luke 6:36
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
Snp 1.8 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Even as a mother would protect with her life her child, her only child, so too for all creatures unfold a boundless heart.”
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1
“ik oankaar sat naam: one Creator, whose Name is Truth, beyond fear and enmity.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“From meditation springs wisdom, without meditation, wisdom ends.”
Analects 2:11 (trans. James Legge)
“If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.”
Tao Te Ching 33 (trans. James Legge)
“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal with those who know not?”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“The Doors of Hell Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three!”