In Praise of Virtue

[icxn]

All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.
...
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice.
...
The great Tao flows unobstructed in every direction. All things rely on it to conceive and be born, and it does not deny even the smallest of creation. When it has accomplished great wonders, it does not claim them for itself. It nourishes infinite worlds, yet it doesn’t seek to master the smallest creature. Since it is without wants and desires, it can be considered humble. All of creation seeks it for refuge yet it does not seek to master or control. Because it does not seek greatness; it is able to accomplish truly great things.

- Lao Tzu

 

[Bodhicitta]

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. --- Edmund Burke

 

[Bodhicitta]

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. --- J.S. Mill

 

[Bodhicitta]

252. Easily seen is the fault of others, but one’s
own fault is difficult to see. Like chaff one
winnows another’s faults, but hides one’s own,
even as a crafty fowler hides behind sham branches.

253. He who seeks another’s faults, who is ever
censorious—his cankers grow. He is far from
destruction of the cankers.

Buddha

 

[icxn]

In Scetis a brother was once found guilty. They assembled the brothers, and sent a message to Moses telling him to come. But he would not come. Then the presbyter sent again saying, ‘Come, for the gathering of monks is waiting for you.’ Moses got up and went. He took with him an old basket, which he filled with sand and carried on his back. They went to meet him and said, ‘What does this mean, abba?’ He said, ‘My sins run out behind me and I do not see them and I have come here today to judge another.’ They listened to him and said no more to the brother who had sinned but forgave him.

The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

 

[Bodhicitta]

Hierocles on Reverence the Oath in Golden Verses of Pythagoras:

"Besides the Power that creates a universe, it is necessary that there
should be a power that preserves and sustains it, and this power is
embodied in the created beings.

For in their essence all beings are of one nature with the Father, and just in
so far as they are conscious of Him will they carry out His will and design.
They are said to be bound by an Oath to preserve all things in their
respective places and to maintain the beauty and harmony of the universe;
but this Oath is in reality innate and essential to them, because it is born
with them and is part of their divine nature. Therefore, the Oath is
constantly observed by the Immortal Gods, they being always conscious of
the Divine Will; but by the Heroes only to the extent to which they
understand and know God.

The mortal Oath--that used amongst men--has to be reverenced as an image
of the other, and as leading to the greatest strength and stability of
character. And if man would reverence the Oath, then must he do all in his
power to understand the laws that govern this universe, and endeavour to
preserve harmony and order in all things."

 

[Bodhicitta]

The whole duty of man is embraced in the two principles of abstinence and patience: temperance in prosperity, and patient courage in adversity.

Seneca

 

[Bodhicitta]

Moral courage is a virtue of higher cast and nobler origin than physical. It springs from a consciousness of virtue, and renders a man in the pursuit or defence of right, superior to the fear of reproach, opposition, or contempt.

S. G. Goodrich