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Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.

Quotes

 * “The world is not ours to keep. We hold it in trust for future generations.”
 * You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done.
 * Press conference regarding the use of force to gain compliance from Saddam Hussein (24 February 1998)

 * Eradication of extreme poverty has been identified as a priority, and specific targets have been set for prescribed measures. Many said the potential benefits of globalization are understood but people have yet to feel them. It is agreed that part of the solution lies in sovereign States giving priority to the needs of their people, especially the poorest. States, however, must work with the private sector and civil society to solve the problems of globalization. A more equitable world economy has been called for, one where those who have more do more for those who have less.
 * Address given at the United Nation's General Assembly Millennium Summit (8 September 2000)

 * I think that my darkest moment was the Iraq war, and the fact that we could not stop it.. I worked very hard — I was working the phone, talking to leaders around the world... The U.S. did not have the support in the [UN] Security Council. So they decided to go without the council. But I think the council was right in not sanctioning the war...Could you imagine if the U.N. had endorsed the war in Iraq, what our reputation would be like? Although at that point, President (George W.) Bush said the U.N. was headed toward irrelevance, because we had not supported the war. But now we know better.
 * Quoted in Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general, dies aged 80'' (CNBC) (18 August 2018)

 * He is very calm—very, very calm. Never raises his voice. Well-informed, contrary to the sense outside that he is ill-informed and isolated. And decisive.
 * On Saddam Hussein, Press conference (24 February 1998)

 * Unless the Security Council is restored to its pre-eminent position as the sole source of legitimacy on the use of force, we are on a dangerous path to anarchy.
 * Speech at the centennial of the International Peace Conference (19 May 1999)

 * We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. We all share the same basic values.
 * As quoted in Simply Living: The Spirit of the Indigenous People (1999) edited by Shirley A. Jones

 * More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations.
 * Message for the new millennium (31 December 1999)

 * You have said that your first priority is the eradication of extreme poverty.
 * So spoke United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on September 8, 2000, to an assembly of the world’s most powerful men and women. WOL

 * I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time — without UN approval and much broader support from the international community.
 * "Iraq war illegal, says Annan" BBC News (16 September 2004); when asked if the invasion of Iraq was illegal, he replied "Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."

 * Well, the issue of a standing UN army has been raised by many because, quite frankly, the way we operate today is like telling Ottawa that I know you need a fire station but we will build one when the fire breaks. We have no army. When the crisis breaks then we begin to put an army together. We go around to governments and begin asking for troops. The question with a standing UN army is that it raises issues of budget issues, legal issues, where do you place it, under what jurisdiction? And the big boys, big countries don't want it. The smaller countries are also nervous.

 * These values: compassion; solidarity; respect for each other - already exist in all our great religions. We can begin by reaffirming and demonstrating that the problem is not the Koran, nor the Torah nor the Bible. As I have often said, the problem is never the faith. It is the faithful, and how we behave towards each other. It is these great, enduring and universal principles which are also enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We can use these values – and the frameworks and tools we have based on them - to bridge divides and make people feel more secure and confident of the future.
 * World Civilisations: “Bridging the World’s Divides”. Lecture given at the British Museum London.

 * The Lord had the wonderful advantage of being able to work alone.
 * Answer when he was asked why he had not yet reformed the U.N. an its agencies after five months, given that God had taken only seven days to create the universe. As quoted in TIME Magazine (1997), edited by Briton Hadden, Henry Robinson Luce. Time Inc. Volume 149. Issues 2-8. p. 24. Also found in George Antwi (2012), "The Words of Power", Booksmango, p. 103.
 * Variant said by Kofi Annan himself during the "Desmond Tutu Annual International Peace Lecture":"Mr. ambassador, you are right. But God had the unique advantage: He worked alone." (He explains that the question was made by the Russian Ambassador of the U.N. at that time).

 * The report [by a UN commission on Darfur] demonstrates beyond all doubt that the last two years have been little short of hell on earth for our fellow human beings in Darfur.
 * Annan urges action to end 'hell on earth' in Darfur (17 February 2005)

 * The intention was really to do something dignified, something that is honest and reflects the work that this Organization does. And it is with that spirit that the producers and the directors approached their work, and I hope you will all agree they have done that.
 * On the film The Interpreter, from "Secretary-General's press encounter" (19 April 2005)

 * We don’t need any more promises. We need to start keeping the promises we already made.
 * Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message for the New Year, 2004. un.org

 * There are a great number of peoples who need more than just words of sympathy from the international community. They need a real and sustained commitment to help end their cycles of violence, and launch them on a safe passage to prosperity.
 * Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY, Who Will End Violence?

 * The international community . . . allows nearly 3 billion people—almost half of all humanity—to subsist on $2 or less a day in a world of unprecedented wealth.
 * Awake! magazine, May 22, 2002; Can Globalization Really Solve Our Problems?

 * We need to create a world that is equitable, that is stable and a world where we bear in mind the needs of others, and not only what we need immediately. We are all in the same boat.
 * "The World I'm Working To Create", Skoll World Forum (12 August 2013)

 * Gender equality is critical for the development and peace of every nation.
 * Quoted in: Kabir, Hajara Muhammad (2010). Northern women development. [Nigeria]. ISBN 978-978-906-469-4. OCLC 890820657.

 * When women thrive, all of society benefits and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.
 * Quoted in: Kabir, Hajara Muhammad (2010). Northern women development. [Nigeria]. ISBN 978-978-906-469-4. OCLC 890820657.

Nobel lecture (2001)

 * Nobel lecture, Oslo, Norway, (10 December 2001)

 * Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her — just as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions.But to be born a girl in today's Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this hall would consider inhuman. I speak of a girl in Afghanistan, but I might equally well have mentioned a baby boy or girl in Sierra Leone. No one today is unaware of this divide between the world’s rich and poor. No one today can claim ignorance of the cost that this divide imposes on the poor and dispossessed who are no less deserving of human dignity, fundamental freedoms, security, food and education than any of us. The cost, however, is not borne by them alone. Ultimately, it is borne by all of us — North and South, rich and poor, men and women of all races and religions. Today's real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated. Today, no walls can separate |humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another.

 * Scientists tell us that the world of nature is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest can generate a violent storm on the other side of the earth. This principle is known as the "Butterfly Effect." Today, we realize, perhaps more than ever, that the world of human activity also has its own "Butterfly Effect" — for better or for worse.

 * We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire. If today, after the horror of 11 September, we see better, and we see further — we will realize that humanity is indivisible. New threats make no distinction between races, nations or regions. A new insecurity has entered every mind, regardless of wealth or status. A deeper awareness of the bonds that bind us all — in pain as in prosperity — has gripped young and old.

 * The 20th century was perhaps the deadliest in human history, devastated by innumerable conflicts, untold suffering, and unimaginable crimes.Time after time, a group or a nation inflicted extreme violence on another, often driven by irrational hatred and suspicion, or unbounded arrogance and thirst for power and resources. In response to these cataclysms, the leaders of the world came together at mid-century to unite the nations as never before. A forum was created — the United Nations — where all nations could join forces to affirm the dignity and worth of every person, and to secure peace and development for all peoples. Here States could unite to strengthen the rule of law, recognize and address the needs of the poor, restrain man’s brutality and greed, conserve the resources and beauty of nature, sustain the equal rights of men and women, and provide for the safety of future generations.

 * In the 21st Century I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound, awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion. This will require us to look beyond the framework of States, and beneath the surface of nations or communities. We must focus, as never before, on improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness and character.

 * Over the past five years, I have often recalled that the United Nations' Charter begins with the words: "We the peoples." What is not always recognized is that "we the peoples" are made up of individuals whose claims to the most fundamental rights have too often been sacrificed in the supposed interests of the state or the nation.

 * A genocide begins with the killing of one man — not for what he has done, but because of who he is. A campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' begins with one neighbour turning on another. Poverty begins when even one child is denied his or her fundamental right to education. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations. In this new century, we must start from the understanding that peace belongs not only to states or peoples, but to each and every member of those communities. The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights. Peace must be made real and tangible in the daily existence of every individual in need. Peace must be sought, above all, because it is the condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security.

 * The rights of the individual are of no less importance to immigrants and minorities in Europe and the Americas than to women in Afghanistan or children in Africa. They are as fundamental to the poor as to the rich; they are as necessary to the security of the developed world as to that of the developing world. From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict, and promoting democracy. Only in a world that is rid of poverty can all men and women make the most of their abilities. Only where individual rights are respected can differences be channelled politically and resolved peacefully. Only in a democratic environment, based on respect for diversity and dialogue, can individual self-expression and self-government be secured, and freedom of association be upheld.

 * I humbly accept the Centennial Nobel Peace Prize. Forty years ago today, the Prize for 1961 was awarded for the first time to a Secretary-General of the United Nations — posthumously, because Dag Hammarskjöld had already given his life for peace in Central Africa. And on the same day, the Prize for 1960 was awarded for the first time to an African — Albert Luthuli, one of the earliest leaders of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. For me, as a young African beginning his career in the United Nations a few months later, those two men set a standard that I have sought to follow throughout my working life.

 * In a world filled with weapons of war and all too often words of war, the Nobel Committee has become a vital agent for peace. Sadly, a prize for peace is a rarity in this world. Most nations have monuments or memorials to war, bronze salutations to heroic battles, archways of triumph. But peace has no parade, no pantheon of victory. What it does have is the Nobel Prize — a statement of hope and courage with unique resonance and authority. Only by understanding and addressing the needs of individuals for peace, for dignity, and for security can we at the United Nations hope to live up to the honour conferred today, and fulfil the vision of our founders. This is the broad mission of peace that United Nations staff members carry out every day in every part of the world.

 * The idea that there is one people in possession of the truth, one answer to the world’s ills, or one solution to humanity’s needs, has done untold harm throughout history — especially in the last century. Today, however, even amidst continuing ethnic conflict around the world, there is a growing understanding that human diversity is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue. We understand, as never before, that each of us is fully worthy of the respect and dignity essential to our common humanity. We recognize that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories; that mutual respect allows us to study and learn from other cultures; and that we gain strength by combining the foreign with the familiar.

 * In every great faith and tradition one can find the values of tolerance and mutual understanding. The Qur’a, for example, tells us that "We created you from a single pair of male and female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other." Confucius urged his followers: "when the good way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state has lost the way, act boldly and speak softly." In the Jewish tradition, the injunction to "love thy neighbour as thyself," is considered to be the very essence of the Torah. This thought is reflected in the Christian Gospel, which also teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who wish to persecute us. Hindus are taught that "truth is one, the sages give it various names." And in the Buddhist tradition, individuals are urged to act with compassion in every facet of life. Each of us has the right to take pride in our particular faith or heritage. But the notion that what is ours is necessarily in conflict with what is theirs is both false and dangerous. It has resulted in endless enmity and conflict, leading men to commit the greatest of crimes in the name of a higher power. It need not be so. People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what — and who — we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.

 * The lesson of the past century has been that where the dignity of the individual has been trampled or threatened — where citizens have not enjoyed the basic right to choose their government, or the right to change it regularly — conflict has too often followed, with innocent civilians paying the price, in lives cut short and communities destroyed. The obstacles to democracy have little to do with culture or religion, and much more to do with the desire of those in power to maintain their position at any cost. This is neither a new phenomenon nor one confined to any particular part of the world. People of all cultures value their freedom of choice, and feel the need to have a say in decisions affecting their lives.

 * The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being. It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states, and all peoples. Through this universal, indispensable instrument of human progress, States can serve the interests of their citizens by recognizing common interests and pursuing them in unity.

 * This era of global challenges leaves no choice but cooperation at the global level. When States undermine the rule of law and violate the rights of their individual citizens, they become a menace not only to their own people, but also to their neighbours, and indeed the world. What we need today is better governance — legitimate, democratic governance that allows each individual to flourish, and each State to thrive.

 * Beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come.

Truman Library address (2006)

 * Address at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library, Independence, Missouri, USA (11 December 2006)

 * In today’s world, the security of every one of us is linked to that of everyone else.

 * No nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others. We all share responsibility for each other’s security, and only by working to make each other secure can we hope to achieve lasting security for ourselves. — And, I would add that this responsibility is not simply a matter of States being ready to come to each other’s aid when attacked — important though that is. It also includes our shared responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity — a responsibility solemnly accepted by all nations at last year’s UN world summit. That means that respect for national sovereignty can no longer be used as a shield by Governments intent on massacring their own people, or as an excuse for the rest of us to do nothing when heinous crimes are committed.

 * When I look at the murder, rape and starvation to which the people of Darfur are being subjected, I fear that we have not got far beyond “lip service”. The lesson here is that high-sounding doctrines like the “responsibility to protect” will remain pure rhetoric unless and until those with the power to intervene effectively — by exerting political, economic or, in the last resort, military muscle — are prepared to take the lead.

 * I believe we have a responsibility not only to our contemporaries but also to future generations — a responsibility to preserve resources that belong to them as well as to us, and without which none of us can survive. That means we must do much more, and urgently, to prevent or slow down climate change. Everyday that we do nothing, or too little, imposes higher costs on our children and our children’s children. Of course, it reminds me of an African proverb — the earth is not ours but something we hold in trust for future generations. I hope my generation will be worthy of that trust.

 * We are not only all responsible for each other’s security. We are also, in some measure, responsible for each other’s welfare. Global solidarity is both necessary and possible. — It is necessary because without a measure of solidarity no society can be truly stable, and no one’s prosperity truly secure. That applies to national societies — as all the great industrial democracies learned in the twentieth century — but, it also applies to the increasingly integrated global market economy that we live in today. It is not realistic to think that some people can go on deriving great benefits from globalization while billions of their fellow human beings are left in abject poverty, or even thrown into it. We have to give our fellow citizens, not only within each nation but in the global community, at least a chance to share in our prosperity.

 * Both security and development ultimately depend on respect for human rights and the rule of law. — Although increasingly interdependent, our world continues to be divided — not only by economic differences, but also by religion and culture. That is not in itself a problem. Throughout history, human life has been enriched by diversity, and different communities have learnt from each other. But, if our different communities are to live together in peace we must stress also what unites us: our common humanity, and our shared belief that human dignity and rights should be protected by law.

 * Human rights and the rule of law are vital to global security and prosperity. As Truman said, “We must, once and for all, prove by our acts conclusively that Right Has Might”. That’s why this country has historically been in the vanguard of the global human rights movement. But that lead can only be maintained if America remains true to its principles, including in the struggle against terrorism. When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused. — And States need to play by the rules towards each other, as well as towards their own citizens. That can sometimes be inconvenient, but ultimately what matters is not inconvenience. It is doing the right thing. No State can make its own actions legitimate in the eyes of others. When power, especially military force, is used, the world will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose — for broadly shared aims –- in accordance with broadly accepted norms. — No community anywhere suffers from too much rule of law; many do suffer from too little — and the international community is among them. This we must change.

 * The US has given the world an example of a democracy in which everyone, including the most powerful, is subject to legal restraint. Its current moment of world supremacy gives it a priceless opportunity to entrench the same principles at the global level.

 * Governments must be accountable for their actions in the international arena, as well as in the domestic one. — Today, the actions of one State can often have a decisive effect on the lives of people in other States. So does it not owe some account to those other States and their citizens, as well as to its own? I believe it does. — As things stand, accountability between States is highly skewed. Poor and weak countries are easily held to account, because they need foreign assistance. But large and powerful States, whose actions have the greatest impact on others, can be constrained only by their own people, working through their domestic institutions. — That gives the people and institutions of such powerful States a special responsibility to take account of global views and interests, as well as national ones. And today they need to take into account also the views of what, in UN jargon, we call “non-State actors”. I mean commercial corporations, charities and pressure groups, labor unions, philanthropic foundations, universities and think tanks — all the myriad forms in which people come together voluntarily to think about, or try to change, the world. — None of these should be allowed to substitute itself for the State, or for the democratic process by which citizens choose their Governments and decide policy. But, they all have the capacity to influence political processes, on the international as well as the national level. States that try to ignore this are hiding their heads in the sand.

 * It is only through multilateral institutions that States can hold each other to account. And that makes it very important to organize those institutions in a fair and democratic way, giving the poor and the weak some influence over the actions of the rich and the strong.

 * I have continued to press for Security Council reform. But, reform involves two separate issues. One is that new members should be added, on a permanent or long-term basis, to give greater representation to parts of the world which have limited voice today. The other, perhaps even more important, is that all Council members, and especially the major powers who are permanent members, must accept the special responsibility that comes with their privilege. The Security Council is not just another stage on which to act out national interests. It is the management committee, if you will, of our fledgling collective security system.

 * My friends, our challenge today is not to save Western civilization — or Eastern, for that matter. All civilization is at stake, and we can save it only if all peoples join together in the task. You Americans did so much, in the last century, to build an effective multilateral system, with the United Nations at its heart. Do you need it less today, and does it need you less, than 60 years ago? Surely not. More than ever today, Americans, like the rest of humanity, need a functioning global system through which the world’s peoples can face global challenges together. And in order to function more effectively, the system still cries out for far-sighted American leadership, in the Truman tradition. I hope and pray that the American leaders of today, and tomorrow, will provide it.

Farewell Speech (2006)

 * Fair-well speech after finishing his term as Secretary of the United Nations (11 December 2006)

 * Thank you, Senator [Hagel] for that wonderful introduction. It is a great honour to be introduced by such a distinguished legislator.

 * And thanks to you, Mr Devine, and all your staff, and to the wonderful UNA chapter of Kansas City, for all you have done to make this occasion possible.

 * What a pleasure, and a privilege, to be here in Missouri. It is almost a homecoming for me. Nearly half a century ago I was a student about 400 miles north of here, in Minnesota.

 * I arrived there straight from Africa - and I can tell you, Minnesota soon taught me the value of a thick overcoat, a warm scarf and even ear-muffs!
 * “If one is going to err, one should err on the side of liberty and freedom.”

 * When you leave one home for another, there are always lessons to be learnt'. And I had more to learn when I moved on from Minnesota to the United Nations - the indispensable common house of the entire human family, which has been my main home for the last 44 years.

 * Today I want to talk particularly about five lessons I have learnt in the last 10 years, during which I have had the difficult but exhilarating role of Secretary General.

 * I think it is especially fitting that I do that here in the house that honours the legacy of Harry S Truman. If FDR [Franklin D Roosevelt] was the architect of the United Nations, President Truman was the master-builder, and the faithful champion of the Organisation in its first years, when it had to face quite different problems from the ones FDR had expected.

 * Truman's name will for ever be associated with the memory of far-sighted American leadership in a great global endeavour. And you will see that every one of my five lessons brings me to the conclusion that such leadership is no less sorely needed now than it was 60 years ago.

Quotes about Annan

 * We not only have confidence in him, we support him fully. He is in a very difficult job under very difficult circumstances, but we continue to have hope that he is doing his best. We only want his senior management to exhibit the transparency and accountability that he has proscribed for the organization.
 * Rosemarie Waters, president of the United Nations Staff Union

 * We in Europe hold Kofi Annan in high esteem and recognise his unstinting efforts in the cause of peace and democracy.
 * Jacques Chirac

 * We are not suggesting or pushing for the resignation of the secretary-general. We have worked well with him in the past and look forward to working with him for some time in the future.
 * United States ambassador John Danforth

 * Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are undermining an idea [the United Nations]. Is this because the secretary general of the United Nations [Ghanaian Kofi Annan] is now a black man? They never did that when secretary generals were white.
 * Nelson Mandela

title: Kofi Annan


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Gary Webb

Gary Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was an American investigative reporter, journalist, author, and legislative staffer.

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 * I do not believe -- and I have never believed -- that the crack cocaine explosion was a conscious CIA conspiracy, or anybody's conspiracy, to decimate black America. I've never believed that South Central Los Angeles was targeted by the U.S. government to become the crack capitol of the world. But that isn't to say that the CIA's hands or the U.S. government's hands are clean in this matter. Actually, far from it. After spending three years of my life looking into this, I am more convinced than ever that the U.S. government's responsibility for the drug problems in South Central Los Angeles and other inner cities is greater than I ever wrote in the newspaper.
 * January 16, 1999, Eugene, Oregon.

Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press.
Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573929727. (2002) by Kristina Borjesson (editor). Includes chapter 14 by Gary Webb.

 * If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me … I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. So how could I possibly agree with people like Noam Chomsky and Ben Bagdikian, who were claiming the system didn't work, that it was steered by powerful special interests and corporations, and existed to protect the power elite? And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job … The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress.

 * Do we have a free press today? Sure we do. It’s free to report all the sex scandals it wants, all the stock market news we can handle, every new health fad that comes down the pike, and every celebrity marriage or divorce that happens. But when it comes to the real down and dirty stuff—stories like Tailwind, the October Surprise, the El Mozote massacre, corporate corruption, or CIA involvement in drug trafficking—that’s where we begin to see the limits of our freedoms. In today’s media environment, sadly, such stories are not even open for discussion. Back in 1938, when fascism was sweeping Europe, legendary investigative reporter George Seldes observed that “it is possible to fool all the people all the time—when government and press cooperate.” Unfortunately, we have reached that point.
 * p. 156

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Gary Webb


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Talk:Kevin Smith

Unsourced

 * How lame do you have to be to spend your time like that on the Internet? Can't you do something more constructive, like surf for porn? Or go into the real world and interact with people rather than cyber-sniping.

 * If I had any balls whatsoever, I'd make nothing but Jay and Silent Bob flicks for the rest of my life. However, being a critical whore, I've gotta move on and 'grow' beyond those characters.

 * It's incredibly flattering, and really ironic. I grew up quoting Fletch and Raising Arizona, and now people quote the flicks I've done back to me. Weird, but nice.

 * Long time no see. I only pray the caliber of your questions has improved.

 * Now you've gotta spend two thousand bucks to stay at my house. And for five, I'll let you photograph my wife in the shower.

 * On one hand I'll stand up there and think I'm a pretty good storyteller but it has everything to do with the audience. Invariably, I get people telling me that I should do stand-up. Stand-ups generate their own material, but I'm up there answering questions and they lob me softballs.

 * Read the comics, which are probably far better than the film would be if I was involved. Otherwise, my version of Batman would be like him standing around talking for two weeks and not getting anything done. The Bat-A-Rang would never leave the utility belt. It would just be chatting.

 * Sometimes the path you are on is not as important as the direction you are heading. For, no matter if you take the Holland Tunnel or the George Washington Bridge you get to New Jersey, so long as you are heading west. The procedure involved in your path to Nirvana may meander, but a road worth traveling will have its twists and turns.

 * If a fat kid from the Jersey 'burbs could grow up to star opposite one of the biggest movie stars in the world in a summer blockbuster, then anything's possible.

 * Sometimes the path you're on is not as important as the direction you're heading.
 * Readers Digest, Quotable Quotes

 * Mr. Smith Goes To Hollywood : Jay is a creature of the Id, who has no filter as to what to say; he just says what's on his mind. So what's funny about the character is his lack of moral boundary. He says what he says without thinking of the repercussions, and I'm there to just roll my eyes.
 * Interview

 * I really wanted to make a movie where the worst thing that could happen at the end of the day, was somebody would write on a web site that 'Kevin Smith sucks cock' and spell 'cock' wrong.
 * Interview

 * ...That's just how I see male relationships. Just one pleasantry shy of a cock in the mouth.
 * Interview, on whether Randal Graves is gay.

title: Talk:Kevin Smith


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User:Tomf688

Please see my user page on Wikipedia.

title: User:Tomf688


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User talk:Tomf688

Please see my talk page on Wikipedia.

title: User talk:Tomf688


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Terence Ranger

Terence Osborn Ranger (born 1929) is a prominent African historian, focusing much of his work on the colonial History of Zimbabwe. Much of his work was conducted in the 1960s and '70s, as part of the post-colonial generation of historians.

Quotes

 * Churches which emphasise ecstatic possession by the spirit, which foster prophecy and spiritual healing and exorcism have been seen as continuations of African belief and practice. Yet these very features, which are taken as being most African, are in reality the most Christian aspect of such churches. They spring directly from increasingly strong tendencies in world Christianity in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They spring in fact either from anti-establishment Christian Pentecostalism, as it developed in Europe and North America, or from evangelical revivalist tendencies within the major mission churches themselves. Few independent church leaders have claimed to be continuing African traditions.
 * Religion, Development and African Christian Identity, page 31.

title: Terence Ranger


text:
Lars Rudebeck

Lars Rudebeck (born 1937) is a Swedish political scientist, and Professor emeritus of political science, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Politics and Structural Adjustment in a West-African Village (1990). AKUT, Uppsala universitet

 * The overriding crucial implication of the structural adjustment policies was that the villagers would have to fend for themselves in all conceivable respects.
 * p. 19; About villagers of Adjadja, Guinea-Bissau in the 1990s.

 * Socio-economic hardship breeds not only repression to force people to live with hardship, but also resistance, often in turn provoking repression in initial rounds, but in subsequent rounds quite possibly forcing dictatorial regimes to give in, partially or thoroughly, and to concede democratic reforms. This is another way, twisted as it may look, in which structural adjustment may indeed lead up to democratization.
 * p. 20

title: Lars Rudebeck


text:
Talmud

The Talmud (Hebrew: תלמוד) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is considered to be an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, tracing back to the traditions of the Pharisees.

 * If you add a quote to this page, please ensure that it is properly sourced. The discussion page currently contains a number of unsourced quotes; if you know the original context, feel free to add it.

God

 * Wikipedia page: God in Judaism

 * לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁאֵין שְׁכִינָה שׁוֹרָה לֹא מִתּוֹךְ עַצְבוּת וְלֹא מִתּוֹךְ עַצְלוּת וְלֹא מִתּוֹךְ שְׂחוֹק וְלֹא מִתּוֹךְ קַלּוּת רֹאשׁ וְלֹא מִתּוֹךְ שִׂיחָה וְלֹא מִתּוֹךְ דְּבָרִים בְּטֵלִים, אֶלָּא מִתּוֹךְ דְּבַר שִׂמְחָה שֶׁל מִצְוָה
 * Shabbat 30b:5
 * Translations:
 * The Divine Presence rests upon an individual neither from an atmosphere of sadness, nor from an atmosphere of laziness, nor from an atmosphere of laughter, nor from an atmosphere of frivolity, nor from an atmosphere of idle conversation, nor from an atmosphere of idle chatter, but rather from an atmosphere imbued with the joy of a mitzva.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * The Divine Presence rests [upon man] though sadness, neither through sloth, nor through jesting, nor through levity, nor through loquacity, nor through [a host of] vain pursuits, but rather through the joyful performance of keeping one's religious duty.

Saving a life

 * הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מַעֲלִין עָלָיו כְּאִילּוּ אִיבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל־הַמְקַייֵם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מַעֲלִין עָלָיו כְּאִילּוּ קִייֵם עוֹלָם מָלֵא.
 * Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 4:9:1
 * Translation:
 * For anybody who destroys a single life it is counted as if he destroyed an entire world, and for anybody who preserves a single life it is counted as if he preserved an entire world.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Variants:
 * המאבד נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם מלא
 * Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 37a:13
 * Translation:
 * With regard to anyone who destroys one soul from the Jewish people, i.e., kills one Jew, the verse ascribes him blame as if he destroyed an entire world, as Adam was one person, from whom the population of an entire world came forth. And conversely, anyone who sustains one soul from the Jewish people, the verse ascribes him credit as if he sustained an entire world.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Comments:
 * In some translations, the phrase "destroys a single life in Israel" is used.
 * הַמְאַבֵּד נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ אִבֵּד עוֹלָם מָלֵא. וְכָל הַמְקַיֵּם נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ קִיֵּם עוֹלָם מָלֵא.
 * Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5
 * Translation:
 * With regard to anyone who destroys one soul from the Jewish people, i.e., kills one Jew, the verse ascribes him blame as if he destroyed an entire world, as Adam was one person, from whom the population of an entire world came forth. And conversely, anyone who sustains one soul from the Jewish people, the verse ascribes him credit as if he sustained an entire world.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.
 * Parma Italy, mid-13th century codex; as cited in "The Origins of the Precept 'Whoever Saves a Life Saves the World'", Philologos, Mosaic Magazine. Oct 21, 2016.
 * That is why We ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever takes a life—unless as a punishment for murder or mischief in the land—it will be as if they killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity.
 * Quran 5:32
 * Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.
 * Schindler's List (1993)
 * He who saves a single life saves the world entire.
 * Schindler's Ark (1982)

The Golden Rule

 * דַּעֲלָךְ סְנֵי לְחַבְרָךְ לָא תַּעֲבֵיד — זוֹ הִיא כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ, וְאִידַּךְ פֵּירוּשַׁהּ הוּא, זִיל גְּמוֹר.
 * Shabbat 31a:6
 * Translation:
 * That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Comments:
 * This principle is sometimes referred to as the "Silver Rule", which is a weaker version of the Golden Rule.

 * גַּיְּירֵנִי עַל מְנָת שֶׁתְּלַמְּדֵנִי כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ כְּשֶׁאֲנִי עוֹמֵד עַל רֶגֶל אַחַת!
 * Shabbat 31a:6
 * Translation:
 * Teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Comments:
 * Said by a prospective convert to Hillel the Elder.

Majority rule

 * חזר ואמר להם אם הלכה כמותי מן השמים יוכיחו יצאתה בת קול ואמרה מה לכם אצל ר״א שהלכה כמותו בכ״מ עמד רבי יהושע על רגליו ואמר (דברים ל, יב) לא בשמים היא מאי לא בשמים היא אמר רבי ירמיה שכבר נתנה תורה מהר סיני אין אנו משגיחין בבת קול שכבר כתבת בהר סיני בתורה (שמות כג, ב) אחרי רבים להטות אשכחיה רבי נתן לאליהו א״ל מאי עביד קוב״ה בההיא שעתא א״ל קא חייך ואמר נצחוני בני נצחוני בני
 * Bava Metzia 59b:4–5
 * Translation:
 * Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, Heaven will prove it. A Divine Voice emerged from Heaven and said: Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion? Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: It is written: "It is not in heaven" (Deuteronomy 30:12). The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of the phrase "It is not in heaven" in this context? Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: "After a majority to incline" (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer's opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion. The Gemara relates: Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration? Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

Observance

 * בְּנִי, הִזָּהֵר בְּדִבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים יוֹתֵר מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה. שֶׁדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה יֵשׁ בָּהֶן עֲשֵׂה וְלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה. וְדִבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים — כׇּל הָעוֹבֵר עַל דִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים חַיָּיב מִיתָה.
 * Eruvin 21b:8
 * Translation:
 * My son, be careful to fulfill the words of the Sages [soferim] even more than the words of the Torah. For the words of the Torah include positive and negative commandments, and even with regard to the negative commandments, the violation of many of them is punishable only by lashes. Whereas with respect to the words of the Sages, anyone who transgresses the words of the Sages is liable to receive the death penalty, as it is stated: "And whoever breaches through a hedge, a snake shall bite him" (Ecclesiastes 10:8), taking hedges to refer metaphorically to decrees.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

 * תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: נֶאֱמַר: ״כַּבֵּד אֶת אָבִיךָ וְאֶת אִמֶּךָ״, וְנֶאֱמַר: ״כַּבֵּד אֶת ה׳ מֵהוֹנֶךָ״, הִשְׁוָה הַכָּתוּב כִּבּוּד אָב וָאֵם לִכְבוֹד הַמָּקוֹם. נֶאֱמַר: ״אִישׁ אִמּוֹ וְאָבִיו תִּירָאוּ״, וְנֶאֱמַר: ״אֶת ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד״, הִשְׁוָה הַכָּתוּב מוֹרָאַת אָב וָאֵם לְמוֹרָאַת הַמָּקוֹם. נֶאֱמַר: ״מְקַלֵּל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ מוֹת יוּמָת״, וְנֶאֱמַר: ״אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי יְקַלֵּל אֱלֹהָיו וְנָשָׂא חֶטְאוֹ״, הִשְׁוָה הַכָּתוּב בִּרְכַּת אָב וָאֵם לְבִרְכַּת הַמָּקוֹם.
 * Kiddushin 30b:18–20
 * Translations:
 * The Sages taught that it is stated: "Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:11), and it is stated: "Honor the Lord with your wealth" (Proverbs 3:9). In this manner, the verse equates the honor of one's father and mother to the honor of the Omnipresent, as the term "honor" is used in both cases. Similarly, it is stated: "A man shall fear his mother and his father" (Leviticus 19:3), and it is stated: "You shall fear the Lord your God and Him you shall serve" (Deuteronomy 6:13). The verse equates the fear of one's father and mother to the fear of the Omnipresent. Likewise, it is stated: "He who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:17), and it is stated: "Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin" (Leviticus 24:15). The verse equates the blessing, a euphemism for cursing, of one's '''father and mother to the blessing of the Omnipresent.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Our Rabbis taught: It says, "Honour your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12), and it says, "Honor God with your wealth" (Proverbs 3:9). By using the same terminology, the Torah compares the honour you owe your father and mother to the honour you have to give to the Almighty. It also says, "Every person must respect his mother and his father" (Leviticus 19:3), and it says, "God your Lord you shall respect, Him you shall serve" (Deuteronomy 10:20). Here the same word, respect, is used. The Torah equates the respect you owe your parents with the respect you must show God. Furthermore it says, "Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:17). And furthermore it says, "Anyone that curses God shall bear his sin" (Leviticus 24.–15). By using the same terms the Torah compares cursing of parents with cursing the Almighty.

 * כְּשֵׁם שֶׁאָסוּר לְטָהֵר אֶת הַטָּמֵא כָּךְ אָסוּר לְטַמֵּא אֶת הַטָּהוֹר.
 * Jerusalem Talmud, Terumot 5:3:5
 * Translations:
 * Just as it is forbidden to declare the impure as pure, so it is forbidden to declare the pure as impure.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Just as it is forbidden to permit that which is prohibited, so it is forbidden to prohibit that which is permitted.
 * Lewis Browne: The Wisdom of Israel: An Anthology (1945), p. 232

Marriage

 * לְעוֹלָם יִמְכּוֹר אָדָם כׇּל מַה שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ וְיִשָּׂא בַּת תַּלְמִיד חָכָם, וְיַשִּׂיא בִּתּוֹ לְתַלְמִיד חָכָם
 * Pesachim 49a:22
 * Translation:
 * One should always be willing to sell all he has in order to marry the daughter of a Torah scholar and in order to marry off his daughter to a Torah scholar.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

Money

 * לעולם ישליש אדם את מעותיו שליש בקרקע ושליש בפרקמטיא ושליש תחת ידו
 * Bava Metzia 42a:3
 * Translations:
 * A person should always divide his money into three; he should bury one-third in the ground, and invest one-third in business [bifrakmatya], and keep one-third in his possession.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Let every man divide his money into three parts, and invest a third in land, a third in business, and a third let him keep by him in reserve.

Law

 * לֵיהּ מִידֵּי בְּקַשִּׁישׁוּתָא תַּלְיָא מִילְּתָא בְּטַעְמָא תַּלְיָא מִילְּתָא וְטַעְמָא מַאי זִיל
 * Bava Batra 142b:10
 * Translations:
 * Does the matter depend upon age? The matter depends upon the reason behind the ruling.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * A legal decision depends not on the teacher's age, but on the force of his argument.

Noahide laws

 * תנו רבנן שבע מצות נצטוו בני נח דינין וברכת השם ע״ז גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים וגזל ואבר מן החי
 * Sanhedrin 56a:24
 * Translation:
 * The descendants of Noah, i.e., all of humanity, were commanded to observe seven mitzvot: The mitzva of establishing courts of judgment; and the prohibition against blessing, i.e., cursing, the name of God; and the prohibition of idol worship; and the prohibition against forbidden sexual relations; and the prohibition of bloodshed; and the prohibition of robbery; and the prohibition against eating a limb from a living animal.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Comments:
 * These seven laws are referred to as the Noahide Laws. They are considered to be binding on all of humanity (i.e., all the descendants of Noah).

King

 * עבד מלך כמלך׃
 * Shevuot 47b:6
 * Translation:
 * The servant of a king is like a king.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

 * שמסרבין לקטן ואין מסרבין לגדול
 * Bava Metzia 87a:1
 * Translation:
 * One may decline the request of a lesser man, but one may not decline the request of a great man.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * One may decline the request of a lesser person, but one may not decline the request of a great person.

Government

 * אִם יִהְיוּ כׇּל הַיָּמִים דְּיוֹ, וַאֲגַמִּים קוּלְמוֹסִים, וְשָׁמַיִם יְרִיעוֹת, וְכׇל בְּנֵי אָדָם לַבְלָרִין — אֵין מַסְפִּיקִים לִכְתּוֹב חֲלָלָהּ שֶׁל רְשׁוּת.
 * Shabbat 11a:5
 * Translation:
 * Even if all the seas would be ink, and the reeds that grow near swamps would be quills, and the heavens would be parchment upon which the words would be written, and all the people would be scribes; all of these are insufficient to write the unquantifiable space of governmental authority, i.e., all the considerations with which a government must concern itself and deal.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

Justice

 * אֵלּוּ הֵן הַנִּסְקָלִין, הַבָּא עַל הָאֵם, וְעַל אֵשֶׁת הָאָב, וְעַל הַכַּלָּה, וְעַל הַזְּכוּר, וְעַל הַבְּהֵמָה, וְהָאִשָּׁה הַמְבִיאָה אֶת הַבְּהֵמָה, וְהַמְגַדֵּף, וְהָעוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, וְהַנּוֹתֵן מִזַּרְעוֹ לַמֹּלֶךְ, וּבַעַל אוֹב וְיִדְּעוֹנִי, וְהַמְחַלֵּל אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת, וְהַמְקַלֵּל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ, וְהַבָּא עַל נַעֲרָה הַמְאֹרָסָה, וְהַמֵּסִית, וְהַמַּדִּיחַ, וְהַמְכַשֵּׁף, וּבֵן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה. הַבָּא עַל הָאֵם, חַיָּב עָלֶיהָ מִשּׁוּם אֵם וּמִשּׁוּם אֵשֶׁת אָב. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אֵינוֹ חַיָּב אֶלָּא מִשּׁוּם הָאֵם בִּלְבָד. הַבָּא עַל אֵשֶׁת אָב חַיָּב עָלֶיהָ מִשּׁוּם אֵשֶׁת אָב וּמִשּׁוּם אֵשֶׁת אִישׁ, בֵּין בְּחַיֵּי אָבִיו בֵּין לְאַחַר מִיתַת אָבִיו, בֵּין מִן הָאֵרוּסִין בֵּין מִן הַנִּשּׂוּאִין. הַבָּא עַל כַּלָּתוֹ, חַיָּב עָלֶיהָ מִשּׁוּם כַּלָּתוֹ וּמִשּׁוּם אֵשֶׁת אִישׁ, בֵּין בְּחַיֵּי בְנוֹ בֵּין לְאַחַר מִיתַת בְּנוֹ, בֵּין מִן הָאֵרוּסִין בֵּין מִן הַנִּשּׂוּאִין. הַבָּא עַל הַזְּכוּר וְעַל הַבְּהֵמָה, וְהָאִשָּׁה הַמְבִיאָה אֶת הַבְּהֵמָה, אִם אָדָם חָטָא, בְּהֵמָה מֶה חָטָאת, אֶלָּא לְפִי שֶׁבָּאת לָאָדָם תַּקָּלָה עַל יָדָהּ, לְפִיכָךְ אָמַר הַכָּתוּב תִּסָּקֵל. דָּבָר אַחֵר, שֶׁלֹּא תְהֵא בְּהֵמָה עוֹבֶרֶת בַּשּׁוּק וְיֹאמְרוּ זוֹ הִיא שֶׁנִּסְקַל פְּלוֹנִי עַל יָדָהּ:
 * Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:4
 * Translations:
 * These transgressors are those who are stoned to death: One who engages in intercourse with his mother; or with his father's wife, even if she is not his mother; or with his daughter-in-law; or with a male; or with an animal; and a woman who engages in intercourse with an animal. And one who blasphemes, and one who engages in idol worship. And one who gives of his offspring to Molekh, and a necromancer, and a sorcerer. And one who desecrates Shabbat, and one who curses his father or his mother, and one who engages in intercourse with a betrothed young woman, and an inciter who incites individuals to idol worship, and a subverter who incites an entire city to idol worship, and a warlock, and a stubborn and rebellious son. The mishna elaborates: One who unwittingly engages in intercourse with his mother who is also his father's wife is liable to bring two sin-offerings for his intercourse with her: One due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with one's mother and one due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with one's father's wife. Rabbi Yehuda says: He is liable to bring only one sin-offering, due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with one's mother. One who unwittingly engages in intercourse with his father's wife while his father is married to her is liable to bring two sin-offerings: One due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with one's father's wife and one due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with a married woman. He is liable due to the former prohibition both during his father's lifetime and after his father's death, and whether the relationship between the woman and his father is one of betrothal or one of marriage. Likewise, one who unwittingly engages in intercourse with his daughter-in-law during his son's lifetime is liable to bring two sin-offerings for his intercourse with her: One due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with one's daughter-in-law, and one due to the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with a married woman. The former liability applies both during his son's lifetime and after his son's death, and whether the relationship between the woman and his son is one of betrothal or one of marriage. A man who engages in intercourse with a male or with an animal, and a woman who engages in intercourse with an animal, are executed by stoning. The animal is likewise stoned to death. The mishna asks: If the person sinned by doing this, how did the animal sin? Rather, because a calamity was caused to a person by it, therefore the verse states that it should be stoned, so that it does not cause another to sin. Alternatively, it is so that this animal will not pass through the marketplace, and those who see it will say: This is the animal because of which so-and-so was stoned, and its existence would shame his memory.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

Idolatry

 * שֶׁכׇּל הַכּוֹפֵר בַּעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה נִקְרָא ״יְהוּדִי״
 * Megillah 13a:2
 * Translations:
 * Anyone who repudiates idolatry is called Yehudi.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Whosoever denies idols is called a Jew.

Gentiles

 * התם בשבע מצות דידהו׃
 * Sanhedrin 59a:5
 * Translation:
 * There, in the baraita, the reference is to a gentile who engages in the study of their seven mitzvot. It is a mitzva for a gentile to study the halakhot that pertain to the seven Noahide seven Noahide mitzvot, and when he does so he is highly regarded.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

Jesus

 * שְׁפִילִית לְסֵיפֵיהּ דַּעֲווֹן גִּלְיוֹן, וּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ: אֲנָא לָא לְמִיפְחַת מִן אוֹרָיְיתָא דְּמֹשֶׁה אֲתֵיתִי [וְלָא] לְאוֹסֹפֵי עַל אוֹרָיְיתָא דְמֹשֶׁה אֲתֵיתִי
 * Shabbat 116b:2
 * Translation:
 * I proceeded to the end of the avon gilayon, and it is written: I, avon gilayon, did not come to subtract from the Torah of Moses, and I did not come to add to the Torah of Moses.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

Sin

 * אִם רוֹאֶה אָדָם שֶׁיִּצְרוֹ מִתְגַּבֵּר עָלָיו — יֵלֵךְ לְמָקוֹם שֶׁאֵין מַכִּירִין אוֹתוֹ, וְיִלְבַּשׁ שְׁחוֹרִים וְיִתְעַטֵּף שְׁחוֹרִים, וְיַעֲשֶׂה מַה שֶּׁלִּבּוֹ חָפֵץ, וְאַל יְחַלֵּל שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם בְּפַרְהֶסְיָא.
 * Moed Katan 17a:12
 * Translation:
 * If a person sees that his evil inclination is gaining control over him and he cannot overcome it, then he should go to a place where he is not known. He should wear black, and he should wrap his head in black, as if he were a mourner. Perhaps these changes will influence him, so that he not sin. Even if these actions do not help, he should at least do as his heart desires in private and not desecrate the name of Heaven in public.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

 * בָּתַר גַּנָּבָא גְּנוֹב, וְטַעְמָא טְעֵים.
 * Berakoth 5b:20
 * Translations:
 * One who steals from a thief has a taste of theft.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * If you steal from a thief, you also have a taste of it.
 * Comments:
 * Just because someone steals, you have no right to rob them.

Afterlife

 * הַיּוֹם יוֹשֵׁב בְּחֵיקוֹ שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם הַיּוֹם נוֹלַד רַב יְהוּדָה בְּבָבֶל
 * Kiddushin 72b:1
 * Translation:
 * Today he is sitting in the lap of Abraham our forefather, since he has just been circumcised. He added: Today Rav Yehuda was born in Babylonia.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

 * שְׁלֹשָׁה פְּתָחִים יֵשׁ לַגֵּיהִנָּם, אֶחָד בַּמִּדְבָּר וְאֶחָד בַּיָּם וְאֶחָד בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם.
 * Eruvin 19a:12
 * Translations:
 * There are three entrances to Gehenna, one in the wilderness, one in the sea, and one in Jerusalem.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * There are three gates to Gehinam (purgatory) — one of them is in Jerusalem.

Miscellaneous

 * לֹא הִגְלָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְבֵין הָאוּמּוֹת אֶלָּא כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתּוֹסְפוּ עֲלֵיהֶם גֵּרִים
 * Pesachim 87b:14
 * Translations:
 * The Holy One, Blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would join them.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Why did G-d exile the Jewish people? To make converts of the world.

 * לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם רַךְ כְּקָנֶה וְאַל יְהֵא קָשֶׁה כְּאֶרֶז.
 * Taanit 20b:3
 * Translations:
 * A person should always be soft like a reed and he should not be stiff like a cedar.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * A man should endeavor to be as pliant as a reed, and never unyielding like the cedar.

 * חברך קרייך חמרא אוכפא לגביך מוש א״ל דכתיב
 * Bava Kamma 92b:5
 * Translation:
 * If your friend calls you a donkey, prepare a saddle for your back.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

 * אָמַר לָא בְּסָבֵי טַעְמָא וְלָא בְּדַרְדַּקֵּי עֵצָה.
 * Shabbat 89b:4
 * Translations:
 * There is no reason in elders and no wisdom in youth.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * In old men there is no taste, in young no insight.
 * Comments:
 * Meaning: The old lack enthusiasm, the young lack shrewdness.

 * יַנְקוּתָא — כְּלִילָא דְּוַורְדָּא, סָבוּתָא — כְּלִילָא דְחִילְפָא.
 * Shabbat 152a:4
 * Translations:
 * Youth is a crown of roses; old age is a crown of thorns.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Youth is a crown of roses, old age a crown of willows.
 * Comments:
 * Meaning: Youth is a light burden, old age a heavy one.

 * לְעוֹלָם תְּהֵא שְׂמֹאל דּוֹחָה וְיָמִין מְקָרֶבֶת
 * Sotah 47a:6
 * Translations:
 * It should always be the left, weaker, hand that pushes another away and the right, stronger, hand that draws him near.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Let your left hand turn away what your right hand attracts.

 * עֲשָׂרָה קַבִּים יוֹפִי יָרְדוּ לָעוֹלָם, תִּשְׁעָה נָטְלָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם וְאֶחָד כׇּל הָעוֹלָם כּוּלּוֹ.
 * Kiddushin 49b:5
 * Translations:
 * Ten kav of beauty descended to the world; Jerusalem took nine and all the rest of the world in its entirety took one.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Ten measures of beauty descended to the world, nine were taken by Jerusalem.

 * לֹא רָאָה שִׂמְחָה מִיָּמָיו. מִי שֶׁלֹּא רָאָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם בְּתִפְאַרְתָּהּ
 * Sukkah 51b:4
 * Translations:
 * One who did not see Jerusalem in its glory, never saw a beautiful city.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Whoever did not see Jerusalem in its days of glory, never saw a beautiful city in their life.

 * ״וְהַנֵּצַח״ — זוֹ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם.
 * Berakhot 58a:17
 * Translations:
 * The triumph; this is Jerusalem.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * "Eternity" — this refers to Jerusalem.

 * אֲפִילּוּ בִּשְׁעַת כִּשְׁלוֹנָהּ שֶׁל יְרוּשָׁלָיִם לֹא פָּסְקוּ מִמֶּנָּה אַנְשֵׁי אֲמָנָה
 * Shabbat 119b:11
 * Translations:
 * Even at the time of Jerusalem's failure, trustworthy people did not cease there.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Even during the time of Jerusalem's stumbling, men of faith did not cease from [living] there.

 * וְאֵין יְרוּשָׁלָיִם מִטַּמְּאָה בִּנְגָעִים
 * Yoma 12a:2
 * Translations:
 * The city of Jerusalem does not become ritually impure with the impurity of leprosy, since it belongs to all the Jewish people rather than to a specific tribe.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Jerusalem does not become impure through touching; Jerusalem will not be split by the tribes.

 * לָא חָרְבָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁחִלְּלוּ בָּהּ אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּמִשַׁבְּתוֹתַי הֶעְלִימוּ עֵינֵיהֶם וָאֵחַל בְּתוֹכָם״.
 * Shabbat 119b:6
 * Translations:
 * Jerusalem was destroyed only because people desecrated the Shabbat in it, as it is stated: "And from My Shabbatot they averted their eyes, and I was profaned among them" (Ezekiel 22:26).
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Jerusalem was only destroyed because its inhabitants desecrated the Shabbat, they refrained from reciting the Morning and Evening Shema, the children in the Torah day schools wasted their learning time, because they were not shame faced (to sin), because they made the minors equal to the adults, because one did not rebuke another, because they embarrassed Torah Scholars.

 * כׇּל שִׁיטָּה וְשִׁיטָּה שֶׁנָּטְלוּ גּוֹיִם מִירוּשָׁלַיִם, עָתִיד הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְהַחֲזִירָן לָהּ
 * Rosh Hashanah 23a:11
 * Translations:
 * Each and every acacia tree that the gentiles took from Jerusalem will be returned to the city '''by the Holy One, Blessed be He.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Each and every acacia tree that the non-Jews removed from Jerusalem, will be restored to it by the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the future.

 * כׇּל הַמִּתְאַבֵּל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם — זוֹכֶה וְרוֹאֶה בְּשִׂמְחָתָהּ, וְשֶׁאֵינוֹ מִתְאַבֵּל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם — אֵינוֹ רוֹאֶה בְּשִׂמְחָתָהּ.
 * Taanit 30b:4
 * Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit and see her future joy, and whoever does not mourn for Jerusalem will not see her future joy.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will be meritorious and will see its rejoicing and all who do not mourn for Jerusalem will not see its rejoicing.

 * לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם עַנְוְותָן כְּהִלֵּל וְאַל יְהֵא קַפְּדָן כְּשַׁמַּאי.
 * Shabbat 30b:12
 * Translation:
 * A person should always be patient like Hillel and not impatient like Shammai.
 * The William Davidson Talmud

 * דאמרי אינשי אסא דקאי ביני חילפי אסא שמיה ואסא קרו ליה
 * Sanhedrin 44a:2
 * Translations:
 * Even when a myrtle is found among thorns, its name is myrtle and people call it myrtle.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * The myrtle that grows among thorns is a myrtle still.

 * לְפוּם גַּמְלָא שִׁיחְנָא
 * Sotah 13b:15
 * Translations:
 * Based on the camel is the burden.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * The burden is equal to the horse's strength.

 * וֶהֱוֵי זָנָב לָאֲרָיוֹת, וְאַל תְּהִי רֹאשׁ לַשּׁוּעָלִים
 * Pirkei Avot 4:15
 * Translations:
 * Be a tail unto lions, and not a head unto foxes.
 * Mishnah Yomit by Dr. Joshua Kulp
 * Join the company of lions rather than assume the lead among foxes.

 * הלכה: כְּתִיב לֹא תִקּוֹם וְלֹא תִטּוֹר אֶת בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ. הֵיךְ עֲבִידָה. הֲוָה מְקַטֵּעַ קוֹפָּד וּמְחַת סַכִּינָא לְיָדוֹי. תַּחֲזוֹר וְתִמְחֵי לְיָדֵיהּ.
 * Nedarim 9:4:2
 * Translations:
 * It is written: "You should not take revenge or nurse hatred against your fellow countrymen." How is that? He was cutting meat and the knife fell down on his hand. Should he go and hit his hand?
 * |en Translation and commentary by Heinrich W. Guggenheimer
 * Who takes vengeance or bears a grudge acts like one who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.

 * נִכְנַס יַיִן — יָצָא סוֹד.
 * Eruvin 65a:19
 * Translations:
 * Typically, when wine entered the body, a secret emerged.
 * Typically, when wine entered the body, a secret emerged.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * When the wine's in, murder will out.

 * וְהָרְשׁוּת מְקַבֶּרֶת אֶת בְּעָלֶיהָ
 * Yoma 86b:18
 * Translations:
 * Authority buries one who owns it.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * Ambition destroys its possessor.

 * אָסוּר לִישַׁן בַּבַּיִת יְחִידִי, וְכׇל הַיָּשֵׁן בַּבַּיִת יְחִידִי — אֹחַזְתּוֹ לִילִית.
 * Shabbat 151b:10
 * Translations:
 * It is prohibited to sleep alone in a house, and anyone who sleeps alone in a house will be seized by the evil spirit Lilith.
 * The William Davidson Talmud
 * One may not sleep in a house alone [in a lonely house], and whoever sleeps in a house alone is seized by Lilith.

 * וְאַל תַּאֲמִין בְּעַצְמְךָ עַד יוֹם מוֹתְךָ
 * Pirkei Avot 2:4
 * Translations:
 * Do not trust in yourself until the day of your death.
 * Mishnah Yomit by Dr. Joshua Kulp
 * Trust not your own powers till the day of your death.

Rabbinic literature

 * The doctrines of religion are resolved into carefulness; carefulness into vigorousness; vigorousness into guiltlessness; guiltlessness into abstemiousness; abstemiousness into cleanliness; cleanliness into godliness.
 * Division of Mishna, as translated by Dr. A. S. Bettelheim. Religious zeal leads to cleanliness, cleanliness to purity, purity to godliness, godliness to humility to the fear of sin. Rabbi Pinhasben-Jaïr—Commentary on the lines from the Talmud. See also Talmudde Jerusalem, by Schwab, IV. 16. Commentary on the treatise Schabbath. Schul—Sentences of Proverbes du Talmud et du Midrasch. 463.

Fiction

 * Abe Petrovsky: Michael, may I tell you a story? Mike McDermott: Please. Abe Petrovsky: For generations, men in my family have been rabbis. In Israel; before that, in Europe. It was to be my calling. I was quite a prodigy, the pride of my yeshiva. The elders said I had a 40-year-old's understanding of the Midrash by the time I was 12. But by the time I was 13, I knew I could never be a rabbi. Mike McDermott: Why not? Abe Petrovsky: Because for all I understood of the Talmud, I never saw God there. Mike McDermott: You couldn't lie to yourself. Abe Petrovsky: I tried. I tried like crazy. I mean, people were counting on me. … My parents were destroyed, devastated by my decision. My father sent me away to New York to live with distant cousins. … Mike McDermott: And did your parents get over it? Abe Petrovsky: No. I always hoped that I would find some way to change their minds, but they were inconsolable. My father never spoke to me again.
 * Rounders (1998)

 * Ronit Krushka: So, all he did all day, was stay in here and read the Torah, and the commentaries on the Torah, and the notes on the commentaries, and the debates on the notes.
 * Disobedience (2017)

Miscellaneous

 * Once upon a time, under pressure of censorship, printers would inscribe in the flyleaves of volumes of the Talmud: "Whatever may be written herein about gentiles does not refer to the gentiles of today, but to gentiles of times past." Today, the flyleaves of our books bear a similar inscription, albeit an invisible one: "Whatever may be written herein about Jews does not refer to the Jews of today, but to Jews who lived in other times." So we are able to sit down and study Torah, Talmud, books of ethics, or books of faith without considering their relevance to our lives. Whatever is written there does not apply to us or to our generation, but only to other people, other times. We must expunge from those invisible prologues the notion that the words are written about someone else, about others, about anyone but us. Whether the book is a volume of Torah, a tractate of the Talmud, or a tract of faith, the opposite must be inscribed: "Whatever is written herein refers only to me; is written for me and obligates me. First and foremost, the content is addressed to me."
 * From a public address by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, as quoted in Talks on Parashat Ha-Shavua (חיי עולם), Maggid Books, 2011. Also quoted in the preface of each volume of the Koren Talmud Bavli.

 * Without the Talmud, we would not be able to understand passages in the Bible. … God has handed this authority to the sages and tradition is a necessity as well as scripture. … Anyone who does not study the Talmud cannot understand Scripture.
 * Yechiel of Paris, in Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: Surprising Differences, Conflicting Visions, and Worldview Implications — From the Early Church to Our Modern Time by Jonas E. Alexis, vol. I, p. 266

 * Jews don't read the Bible literally. We read it through the lens of generations of interpretations and acknowledge the evolution of human understanding of God. The Talmudic image of God is vastly different from the image of God presented in the Bible.
 * Rabbi Laura Geller: "Acts of God? A Jewish Perspective on Natural Disasters". The Huffington Post, 2011.

 * In the Jewish Quarter [Judengasse] was I born and educated; until my fifteenth year, they tried to beat the Talmud into me. My teachers were inhuman beings [Unmenschen], my colleagues were bad company, inducing me to secret sin; my body was frail, my spirit raw.
 * Moses Hess' Diary, September 16, 1836

 * I was supposed to devote myself only to the Talmud. But the Talmud utterly repelled me, thought I was still a pious Jew-boy [Judenkind]. I wanted to satisfy my craving to be active, to do something: this craving looked for a sphere for itself because none was offered it. I did not want to be a good-for-nothing - and therefore I became a writer.
 * Hess' Diary

 * The Talmud states, it was proved to Elisha that Metatron could not be a second deity by the fact that Metatron received 60 "strokes with fiery rods" to demonstrate that Metatron was not a god, but an angel, and could be punished.
 * Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, Society for Jewish Study (1983). The Journal of Jewish Studies, Volumes 34-35. The Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies. p. 26. Retrieved 5 March 2014.

 * Just as Hillel's actions were not based (even in theory) on any reasoned ethical system, so his moral teaching did not take the form of a systematic treatise, but was expressed in aphorisms, which were, no doubt, occasioned by particular circumstances, but have none the less a universal value. This value, indeed, is not for the doubter, who must needs either find a rational basis for morality, or discard it. They appeal to those who accept, as Hillel accepted, the fundamental postulates of Judaism; and their claim to universality rests, therefore, on the extent to which those postulates are in accord with the root facts of human nature. They are interpretative, not speculative. The moral sayings of Hillel recorded in the Talmud are few in number, but they embody with sufficient fulness the point of view which was expressed no less fully in his conduct. They are contained almost exclusively in the first two chapters of the "Ethics of the Fathers."
 * Leon Simon, "Hillel," The Jewish Literary Annual (1908

 * Our rabbinic texts, all in the Bavli, emphasize that Jesus, the new Balaam, does not have a portion in the world to come: his fate is that he must be punished in hell forever, with no chance of redemption—and the same is true for his followers: they better give up any hope of earning eternal life in his succession, as his apostles promise.
 * Peter Schäfer: Jesus in the Talmud, p. 111. Princeton University Press, 2007.

 * A hundred thousand men labored for twenty years to build the great pyramid: one man wrote the book of Isaiah. You will answer: "One man also wrote Hamlet and the Critique of Pure Reason and the Republic." But I ask: Are Plato and Shakespeare and Kant in your life what the Bible, the Talmud, the rabbis are in ours? To our very masses, the Jewish masses, the wonders of the world are Moses, Elijah, the Rambam, the Vilna Gaon, the Dubna Maggid, the chassid in the neighboring village. These actually dominate our life, as governments, mass radio exploits, armies and Woolworths dominate yours. We are the people of the Book. But we were the people of the Book before a million copies could be printed in a single day.
 * Maurice Samuel: You Gentiles, pp. 113–114

 * A person who understands the law but who is far from the love of God is like a bank official who has the keys for the inside of the building but not the key for the front door.
 * Leo Tolstoy's paraphrase of The Talmud, A Calendar of Wisdom, P. Sekirin, trans. (1997), June 15

 * The commandments of God should be followed because of love of God, not because of fear of God.
 * Leo Tolstoy's paraphrase of The Talmud, A Calendar of Wisdom, P. Sekirin, trans. (1997), June 15

 * We have quoted and have usually explained texts from talmudic literature. Such texts have been and still are often used in Israeli politics and often quoted in the Israeli Hebrew press. We have concluded that in the usual English translations of talmudic literature some of the most sensitive passages are usually toned down or falsified – as a result, we have ourselves translated all of the texts from talmudic literature that we have quoted in the book.
 * Israel Shahak and Norton Mezvinsky: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Pluto Press (1999), p. 1. ISBN: 0-7453-2091-0.

 * Quoting the Talmud is almost always more trouble than it's worth. The Talmud is long, complex, and explicitly contradictory, and an honest citation requires a significant amount of context to establish whether the opinion cited is meaningful or relevant to modern Judaism. Legitimate critics of Judaism will typically be able to find citations in a more straightforward source, such as one of the Jewish law codes, Rabbinical responsa, or modern Jewish publications. Critics who rely solely on the Talmud for critical citations often explain their lack of other sources by accusing Judaism of hiding secret, shocking beliefs, whereas in fact Talmudic opinions that are not cited in later literature simply aren't important to later Jewish tradition – just like obscure laws can be discarded if they are never cited in relevant common law sources.
 * RationalWiki: Talmud
 * The full RationalWiki article expounds on this point, but acknowledges that the argument may seem evasive or dismissive to someone who regards it as an instance of the "Courtier's reply" fallacy, which is a kind of appeal to authority.

 * Maimonides, the great Jewish theologian and historian, who at one time was almost deified by his countrymen and afterward treated as a heretic, remarks that the more absurd and void of sense the Talmud seems, the more sublime is the secret meaning. This learned man has successfully demonstrated that the Chaldean Magic, the science of Moses and other learned thaumaturgists was wholly based on an extensive knowledge of the various and now forgotten branches of natural science. Thoroughly acquainted with all the resources of the vegetable, animal, and mineral kingdoms, experts in occult chemistry and physics, psychologists as well as physiologists, why wonder that the graduates or adepts instructed in the mysterious sanctuaries of the temples, could perform wonders, which even in our days of enlightenment would appear supernatural? It is an insult to human nature to brand magic and the occult science with the name of imposture. To believe that for so many thousands of years, one-half of mankind practiced deception and fraud on the other half, is equivalent to saying that the human race was composed only of knaves and incurable idiots. Where is the country in which magic was not practised? At what age was it wholly forgotten?
 * H. P. Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology (1877), p. 19

title: Talmud


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Category:Religious texts

This is a page designed to list all pages at Wikiquote which are devoted to specific religious texts.

title: Category:Religious texts


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User:Jnc

I'm almost never over here. Please see my page on the English Wikipedia. Similarly, please use my talk page on the English Wikipedia. Thanks. - Noel

Some of my contributions are listed under 68.231.246.4.

Entries I added

 * Kay Redfield Jamison
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 * Colin Chapman

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User talk:Jnc

I'm almost never over here. Please use my talk page on the English Wikipedia. Thanks. - Noel

title: User talk:Jnc


text:
Dhammapada

The Dhammapada is one of the primary collections of teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is revered as the "Shakyamuni Buddha" and considered founder of the Buddhist traditions. It contains 423 verses in 26 categories, which, according to tradition, are answers to questions put to the Buddha on various occasions, most of which deal with ethics.

Quotes
1. Yammakavagga: "The Pairs" (Verses 1-20)

 * Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox. (Verse 1)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
 * Alternate translation: Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you — as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
 * Alternative translation: All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage... If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * "He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me" — for those who brood on this, hostility isn't stilled. "He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me" — for those who don't brood on this, hostility is stilled. Hostilities aren't stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth. (Verses 3-5)
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
 * Alternative: "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,"— in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," — in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * Some do not understand that we must die, But those who do realize this settle their quarrels. (Verse 6)

 * As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind. (Verse 13)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

2. Appamadavagga: "Mindfulness" (Verses 21-32)

 * Heedfulness is the path to the Deathless. Heedlessness is the path to death. The heedful die not. The heedless are as if dead already. (Verse 21)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
 * Alternative: Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana), thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already.
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among the sleepers, the wise man advances like a racer, leaving behind the hack. (Verse 29)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

3. Cittavagga: "The Mind" (Verses 33-43)

 * Just as a fletcher straightens an arrow shaft, even so the discerning man straightens his mind — so fickle and unsteady, so difficult to guard. (Verse 33)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

 * Hard to hold down, nimble, alighting wherever it likes: the mind. Its taming is good. The mind well-tamed brings ease. (Verse 35)
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
 * Alternative: It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a tamed mind brings happiness.
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires. (Verse 39)

4. Pupphavagga: "Flowers" (Verses 44-59)

 * Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers and whose mind is distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village. (Verse 47)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one’s own acts, done and undone. (Verse 50)

5. 'Balavagga: "The Spiritually Immature" (Verses 60-75)

 * Long for the wakeful is the night. Long for the weary, a league. For fools unaware of True Dhamma, samsara is long. (Verse 60)
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 * If a traveller does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool. (Verse 61)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * A fool associating himself with a wise man all his life sees not the truth, even as the spoon enjoys not the taste of the soup. (Verse 64)
 * Translator: Anonymous. Verses published by the Cunningham Press, USA; reissued by the Theosophy Company, Bombay, 1957.

 * Whatever knowledge the fool acquires is not worked to advantage. That tarnishes his bright share of past merit and throws his head into disarray as he acts in the present. (Verse 72)
 * Translator: Anonymous. Verses published by the Cunningham Press, USA; reissued by the Theosophy Company, Bombay, 1957.

6. Panditavagga: "The Spiritually Mature" (Verses 76-89)

 * Should you find a wise critic to point out your faults, follow him as you would a guide to hidden treasure. (Verse 76)

 * Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves. (Verse 80)

 * Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

7. Sahassavagga: "The Thousands" (Verses 90-99)
 * His mind becomes calm. His word and deed are calm. Such is the state of tranquillity of one who has attained to deliverance through the realization of truth. (Verse 96)

8. Sahassavagga: "The Thousands" (Verses 100-115)

 * Better than a thousand hollow words Is one word that brings peace. Better than a thousand hollow verses Is one verse that brings peace.  Better than a hundred hollow lines Is one line of the law, bringing peace. (Verse 100)
 * Translator: Thomas Byrom

 * Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one — himself. (Verse 103)
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 * Better it is to live one day wise and meditative than to live a hundred years foolish and uncontrolled. (Verse 111)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

9. Papavagga: "Evil" (Verses 116-128) 10. Dandavagga: "Violence" (Verses 129-145)
 * If a man commits evil let him not repeat it again and again; let him not delight in it, for the accumulation of sin brings suffering. (Verse 117)
 * Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good. (Verse 118)
 * Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good. (Verse 122)
 * All tremble at the rod, all are fearful of death. Drawing the parallel to yourself, neither kill nor get others to kill. (Verse 129)
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
 * Alternative: All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

11. Jaravagga: "Old Age" (Verses 146-156)

 * How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always burning? Why do you not seek a light, ye who are surrounded by darkness? (Verse 146)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller
 * Alternative: What laughter, why joy, when constantly aflame? Enveloped in darkness, don't you look for a lamp?
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 * Behold this body — a painted image, a mass of heaped up sores, infirm, full of hankering — of which nothing is lasting or stable! (Verse 147)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
 * Alternative: Look at the beautified image, a heap of festering wounds, shored up: ill, but the object of many resolves, where there is nothing lasting or sure.
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 * Worn out is this body, a nest of diseases, dissolving. This putrid conglomeration is bound to break up, for life is hemmed in with death.
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 * Looking for the maker of this tabernacle, I shall have to run through a course of many births, so long as I do not find (him); and painful is birth again and again. But now, maker of the tabernacle, thou hast been seen; thou shalt not make up this tabernacle again. All thy rafters are broken, thy ridge-pole is sundered; the mind, approaching the Eternal (visankhara, nirvana), has attained to the extinction of all desires. (Verses 153-154)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

12. Attavagga: "The Self" (Verses 157-166)

 * One truly is the protector of oneself; who else could the protector be? With oneself fully controlled, one gains a mastery that is hard to gain. (Verse 160)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

13. Lokavagga: "The World"  (Verses 167-178)

 * This world is blind! There are so few Who see things as they truly are. Come, take a good look at this world, Pretty like a king's chariot. Though fools become immersed in it, For the wise there's no attachment. See how much it's like a bubble! See how much it's like a mirage! The king of death does not see one Who regards the world in this way. Rouse yourself! And don't be lazy. Follow the good ways of dhamma. (Verses 168-174)
 * Translator: Andrew Olendzki

14. Buddhavagga "The Buddha" (Verses 179-196)

 * To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas. (Verse 183)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

 * He who pays homage to those who are worthy of homage, be they the Enlightened Ones or Their Disciples — those who have overcome the host of evil and crossed beyond the stream of sorrow — he who pays homage to the Fearless and Peaceful Ones, his merit cannot be measured by any. (Verse 195-196)
 * Translator: Anonymous. Verses published by the Cunningham Press, USA; reissued by the Theosophy Company, Bombay, 1957.

15. Sukhavagga: "Happiness" (Verses 197-208)

 * Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us! among men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred! (Verse 197)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

 * Victory begets enmity; the defeated dwell in pain. Happily the peaceful live, discarding both victory and defeat. (Verse 201)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

 * There is no fire like lust and no crime like hatred. There is no ill like the aggregates (of existence) and no bliss higher than the peace (of Nibbana). (Verse 202)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

 * Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nibbana is the greatest bliss. (Verse 202)
 * Translator: Narada Maha Thera

 * 206. Glorious is it to see the Noble Ones; their company at all times brings happiness; by not seeing the spiritually ignorant, one will always be happy. 207. He who leads a life in the company of fools suffers long; it is as painful to live with fools as it is with a foe; association with the wise brings happiness[...] 208. Therefore, one should follow the steadfast, the wise, the educated, the self-reliant, the dutiful and the noble. Even as the moon follows the path of the stars, so ought one to follow such a virtuous and highly intelligent man.
 * Translator: Harischandra Kaviratna

16. Piyavagga: "Affection" (Verses 209-220)
 * As kinsmen welcome a dear one on arrival, even so his own good deeds will welcome the doer of good who has gone from this world to the next. (Verse 220)

17. Kodhavagga: "Anger" (Verses 221-234)
 * One, who controls his anger when aroused, is like a clever driver who controls a fast going carriage; the others are like those who merely hold the reins.
 * (Verse 222)
 * Conquer the hateful man with love; conquer the bad man with goodness; conquer the miser with generosity; conquer the liar with truth. (Verse 223)
 * Give, even if you only have a little. (Verse 224)

18. Malavagga: "Impurity" (Verses 235-255)
 * Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver one by one, little by little, and from time to time. (Verse 239)

19. Dhammatthavagga: "The Righteous" (Verses 256-272)

 * To pass judgment hurriedly doesn’t mean you’re a judge. The wise one, weighing both the right judgment & wrong, judges others impartially — unhurriedly, in line with the Dhamma, guarding the Dhamma, guarded by Dhamma, intelligent: he’s called a judge. (Verses 256-257)

 * One is not a learned man by virtue of much speaking. He who is patient, without anger and fearless, he is to be called learned. (Verse 258)

 * One is not a bearer of the teaching by virtue of much speaking, but he who, even if he has only studied a little, has experienced the truth in person, he is indeed a bearer of the teaching, who has not forgotten the teaching. (Verse 259)
 * One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is called noble. (Verse 270)

20. Maggavagga: "The Path"(Verses 273-289)
 * Of paths, the eightfold is best. Of truths, the four sayings. Of qualities, dispassion. Of two-footed beings, the one with the eyes to see. (Verse 273)
 * Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 * All conditioned things are impermanent" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification. (Verse 277)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita
 * Alternative: "All created things perish," he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

21. Pakinnakavagga: "Miscellaneous" (Verses 290-305)
 * If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a great pleasure, let a wise man leave the small pleasure, and look to the great. (Verse 290)

22. Nirayavagga: "Hell" (Verses 306-319)
 * In the same way that a wrongly handled blade of grass will cut one's hand, so a badly fulfilled life in religion will drag one down to hell. (Verse 311)

23. Nagavagga: "The Elephant" (Verses 320-333)
 * Trained mules are excellent, and so are thoroughbred horses from the Sindh, and so are great battle elephants, but more excellent than them all is a disciplined man. (Verse 322)
 * If you find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go along with him, overcoming all dangers, pleased at heart and mindful. (Verse 328)

24. Tanhavagga: "Craving" (Verses 334-359)
 * Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death. (Verse 348)
 * Translator: Acharya Buddharakkhita

25. Bhikkhuvagga: "The Monk" (Verses 360-382)
 * The monk who is calm in body, calm in speech, calm in thought, well-composed and who has spewn out worldliness — he, truly, is called serene. (Verse 378)

26. Brahmanavagga: "The Holy man" (Verses 383-423)
 * When a holy man has reached the summit of two paths (meditative concentration and insight), he knows the truth and all his fetters fall away. (Verse 384)
 * A man does not become a Brahmana by his platted hair, by his family, or by birth; in whom there is truth and righteousness, he is blessed, he is a Brahmana. (Verse 393)
 * Translator: F. Max Müller

Quotes about the Dhammapada

 * If all of the New Testament had been lost, it has been said, and only the Sermon on the Mount had managed to survive these two thousand years of history, we would still have all that is necessary for following the teachings of Jesus the Christ..... Buddhist scripture is much more voluminous than the Bible, but... if everything else were lost, we would need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow the way of the Buddha.
 * Eknath Easwaran, in the introduction to his translation of The Dhammapada (2007, 2nd ed.), page 13. (original publication, 1986)

title: Dhammapada


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Talk:Adam Smith

"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary." - The Wealth of Nations

I included the rest of the quote because I felt it was taken out of context. The abridged version is frequently noted as proof that Adam Smith supports anti-trust legislation.:

suggestion

 * Please include more quotes from a larger variety of sources, such as the very important but oft forgot The Theory of Moral Sentiments.

The following (possibly apocryphal) quotation has been floating around the internet, and it's not part of WoN or ToMS, so if anyone can confirm or deny its validity, it may be worth noting on the main page: “Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.”

The earliest reference I found was from isbn:1566195292, which has a copyright of 1968. My guess is that it's valid, but I haven't found a more authoritative or specific reference.--Wcoole (talk) 22:41, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

Needs to be added as a completely unsourced quote. Definitely not anything that appears in his major works and does not make any sense as consistent with his other statements about virtue. A real quote expressing this idea is CS Lewis in God In The Dock: a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under of robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some points be satiated; but those who torment us for their own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. -- Jbgfour (talk) 03:44, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Looking up ISBN 1566195292 shows that it is 20,000 Quips & Quotes by Evan Esar (1968). The quote appears on p. 844 but has no attribution. It appears to me that the citation given by Wcoole is completely spurious. --Hughh (talk) 20:57, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

 * There is an earlier appearance of this quote in Albert Jay Nock (1948), Journal of Forgotten Days, May 1934-October 1935, H. Regnery, page 35:

 * Reading some outpourings in favour of the Child Labour Amendment sharpens my sense of the dreadful havoc worked by the unrestrained ascendency of the "moral element" in society. I remember a wise saying that I think covers the case, though I do not know who said it. "Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience." There seems no doubt about it.

 * Collections of quotes often attribute it directly to Nock, ignoring Nock's "I do not know who said it." Gdr (talk) 07:36, 19 August 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Adam Smith