244 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
244 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Leadership by Example and Honest Government
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World Scripture
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LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE AND HONEST GOVERNMENT
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Government should operate impartially and with integrity. Its leaders should be
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honest, moral, and virtuous people, who will not take bribes or act corruptly.
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Because people look up to a nation's leaders as role models, they should set a
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good example for the people.
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The notion that a leader may rule by moral force is widespread in many
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religions, but it is particularly central to the Confucian ideal of government.
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On the other hand, the Islamic view of leadership is more pessimistic: people
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should not expect the ruler to be any different from themselves; they should
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rather look to God for guidance.
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God has promised such of you as believe and do good works that He will surely
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make them to succeed the present rulers in the earth, even as He caused those
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who were before them to succeed; and he will surely establish for them their
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religion which He has approved for them.
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1. Islam. Qur'an 24.55
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Duke Ai: "May I ask what is the art of government?" Confucius: "The art of
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government simply consists in making things right, or putting things in their
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right places. When the ruler himself is 'right,' then the people naturally
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follow him in his right course."
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2. Confucianism. Book of Ritual 27
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Book of Ritual 27: The Confucian doctrine of Rectification of Names teaches
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that people at every position of life should live up to the proper
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responsibilities of their offices. It should begin with the ruler. See note to
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Analects 12.11, p. 614; also Doctrine of the Mean 14, p. 615; Mencius I.B.8, p.
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887.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Chi K'ang-tzu asked Confucius about government, saying, "Suppose I were to slay
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those who have not the Way in order to help those who have the Way, what would
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you think of it?" Confucius replied, saying, "If you desire what is good, the
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people will at once be good. The essence of the gentleman is that of wind; the
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essence of small people is that of grass. And when a wind passes over the
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grass, it cannot choose but bend."
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3. Confucianism. Analects 12.19
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Concerned alone with the upholding of the world, You should act. Whatever the
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best man does, others do that also. The world follows the standard he sets for
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himself.
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4. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 3.20-21
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When the king is deceitful, who will not be deceitful? When the king is
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unrighteous, who will not be unrighteous?
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5. Jainism. Somadeva, Nitivakyamrita 17.183
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Confucius said, "Those rulers whose measures are dictated by mere expediency
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will arouse continual discontent."
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6. Confucianism. Analects 4.12
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Confucius said, "If a ruler himself is upright, all will go well even though he
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does not give orders. But if he himself is not upright, even though he gives
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orders, they will not be obeyed."
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7. Confucianism. Analects 13.6
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When cattle are crossing, if the old bull swerves, They all go swerving,
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following his lead. So among men, if he who's reckoned best Lives not aright,
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much more do other folk. If the ruler be unrighteous, the whole land dwells in
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woe.
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When cattle are crossing, if the bull goes straight, They all go straight
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because his course is straight. So among men, if he who's reckoned best Lives
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righteously, the others do so too. The whole land dwells in happiness if the
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ruler lives aright.
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8. Buddhism. Anguttara Nikaya ii.75
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Analects 12.19: On not propagating one's religion by force, see Qur'an 2.256,
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p. 586. The position that the state has the right and duty to use the sword in
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order to enforce correct thinking has had a long history in China, from the
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Legalists of the Ch'in dynasty to Mao Tse Tung in the twentieth century.
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Analects 13.6: Cf. Analects 4.5, p. 807.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate,
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sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but
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gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money. He must manage his own
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household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way;
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for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for
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God's church?
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9. Christianity. 1 Timothy 3.2-5
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Emperor Kotoku proclaimed to his ministers, "In governing, let us do truly as
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was done by the emperors of old in ruling the realm. Let us govern with true
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sincerity."
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10. Shinto. Nihon Shoki 25
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God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules
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justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, He dawns on them like the morning
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light, like the sun shining forth upon a cloudless morning, like rain that
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makes grass to sprout from the earth.
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11. Judaism and Christianity. 2 Samuel 23.3-4
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Nihon Shoki 25: Cf. Kojiki, Preface, p. 897. 2 Samuel 23.3-4: These are from
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the last words of King David. Cf. Joshua 1:1-9, pp. 891f.; Deuteronomy
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17.14-20, p. 898.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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The Emperor Yao was reverent, intelligent, accomplished, sincere, and mild. He
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was sincerely respectful and capable of modesty. His light covered the four
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extremities of the empire and extended to Heaven above and the earth below. He
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was able to make bright his great virtue, bring affection to the nine branches
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of his family... and harmonize the myriad states. The numerous people were
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amply nourished and prosperous and became harmonious....
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The emperor said, "Oh you Chief of the Four Mountains, I have been on the
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throne for seventy years. If you can carry out the mandate, I shall resign my
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position to you." The Chief of the Four Mountains said, "I have not the virtue.
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I would only disgrace the high position." The emperor said, "Promote someone
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who is already illustrious, or raise up someone who is humble and mean." They
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all said to the emperor, "There is an unmarried man in a low position called
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Shun of Y." The emperor said, "Yes, I have heard of him. What is he like?" The
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Chief said, "He is the son of a blind man. His father is stupid, his mother
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deceitful, his half-brother Hsiang is arrogant. Yet he has been able to live in
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harmony with them and to be splendidly filial. He has controlled himself and
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has not come to wickedness." The emperor said, "I will try him; I will wive him
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and observe his behavior towards my two daughters." He gave orders and sent
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down his two daughters to the bend of the Kuei River to be wives in the House
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of Y. The emperor said, "Be reverent!"...
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The emperor said: "Come, you Shun, in the affairs on which you have been
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consulted, I have examined your words; your words have been accomplished and
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capable of yielding fine results for three years; do you ascend to the imperial
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throne." Shun considered himself inferior in virtue and was not pleased. But in
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the first month, on the first day, he accepted the abdication of Yao in the
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Temple of the Accomplished Ancestor. Then he made lei sacrifice to the
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Lord-on-High; he made yin sacrifice to the six Venerable Ones.... He delimited
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the twelve provinces and raised altars on twelve mountains and he deepened the
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rivers.
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12. Confucianism. Book of History 1.1.3 and 2.1.2-3
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As you are so will you have rulers put over you.
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13. Islam. Hadith of Baihaqi
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Refrain from exalting the worthy So that the people will not scheme and
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contend; Refrain from prizing rare possessions, So that the people will not
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steal; Refrain from displaying objects of desire, So that the people's hearts
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will not be disturbed.
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Therefore the sage rules his people thus: He empties their minds, And fills
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their bellies; He weakens their ambitions, And strengthens their bones.
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He strives always to keep people innocent of knowledge and desires, and to keep
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the knowing ones from meddling. By doing nothing that interferes with anything,
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nothing is left unregulated.
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14. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 3
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By God, any official who takes anything from the public funds without
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justification will meet his Lord carrying it on himself on the Day of Judgment.
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15. Islam. Hadith of Muslim
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Bribery is the door through which come all manner of sins. Those who live by
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bribery cut off their mother's breasts.
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16. Jainism. Somadeva, Nitivakyamrita 17.184
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Book of History 1.1.3 and 2.1.2-3: Yao and Shun were revered by Confucius as
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among the ideal rulers of ancient China because of their personal
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righteousness. Tao Te Ching 3: This Taoist passage disagrees with the Confucian
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wisdom that the route to honest government requires that men of ability be
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sought out and promoted. The Taoist sages recognized that rivalry between
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'worthy' advisors was a serious corruption in the state. To feed ambition is to
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bring out the worst in people and is contrary to the Tao. Cf. Tao Te Ching 12,
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p. 801; 18-19, p. 260.
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He who receives office in order to profit from it is like an adulterer, who
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gets his pleasure from a woman's body. God says, "I am called holy, you are
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called holy; if you have not all the qualities which I have, you should not
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accept leadership."
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17. Judaism. Midrash, Pesikta Rabbati 111a
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Neither for the sake of oneself nor for the sake of another, not desiring son,
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wealth, or kingdom, should a person seek his own success by unjust means. Then
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only is a man indeed virtuous, wise, and righteous.
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18. Buddhism. Dhammapada 84
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Do not ask for the position of authority, for if you are granted this position
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as a result of your asking for it, you will be left to discharge it yourself;
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but if you are given it without asking you will be helped [by God].
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19. Islam. Hadith of Muslim
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"Your Majesty," answered Mencius. "What is the point of mentioning the word
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'profit'? All that matters is that there should be benevolence and rightness.
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If Your Majesty says, 'How can I profit my state?' and the counsellors say,
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'How can I profit my family?' and the officials and commoners say, 'How can I
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profit my person?' then those above and those below will be trying to profit at
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the expense of one another and the state will be imperiled. When regicide is
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committed in a state of ten thousand chariots, it is certain to be by a vassal
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with a thousand chariots, and when it is committed in a state of a thousand
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chariots, it is certain to be by a vassal with a hundred chariots. A share of a
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thousand in ten thousand or a hundred in a thousand is by no means
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insignificant, yet if profit is put before rightness, there is no satisfaction
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short of total usurpation. No benevolent man ever abandons his parents, and no
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dutiful man ever puts his prince last. Perhaps you will now endorse what I have
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said: 'All that matters is that there should be benevolence and rightness. What
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is the point of mentioning the word "profit"?'
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20. Confucianism. Mencius I.A.1
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Mencius I.A.1: Cf. Book of Ritual 7.1.2, pp. 259f. Asa Ashtapadi M.1: Nanak
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attributed the invasion by the Mughal conqueror Babur to God's judgment on the
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misrule of the kings of India. See Asa, M.1, p. 920.
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Rulers lost their senses in levity and frivolity; [Therefore] Babur's command
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has gone abroad, That even princes now go about without a crust of bread.
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21. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Asa Ashtapadi M.1, p. 417
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You will be eager for the office of commander, but it will become a cause of
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regret on the day of resurrection. It is a good suckler but an evil weaner.
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22. Islam. Hadith of Bukhari
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