The Good Book_ A Secular Bible - A. C. Grayling [341]
21. ‘Discuss for me justice, duty, thrift and virtue. If you will only refuse to lead me along by-paths, I shall more easily reach the goal at which I aim. For the language of truth is simple.’
Chapter 7
1. If we indulge in nothing but a life of indolence and luxury, the life of the degenerate who thinks that labour is the worst of evils and freedom from toil the height of happiness,
2. Then it will happen that the day will come, and speedily, when we shall be unworthy of ourselves,
3. And with the loss of honour will come the loss of all we hold dear.
4. To have been valiant once is not enough; no man can keep his valour unless he watches over it to the end.
5. As the arts decay through neglect, as the body, once healthy and alert, grows weak through sloth and indolence,
6. Even so the powers of the mind, temperance, self-control and courage, if we grow slack in training, fall back once more to uselessness.
7. We must watch ourselves; we must not surrender to the temptations of laxity that go far beyond rest or pleasure.
8. It is a great work to make a life that is good for ourselves and our fellows, but a far greater to keep it good.
9. To make a good life takes dedication, but to keep it so is impossible without self-restraint, self-command and thoughtfulness.
10. We must not forget this; we must learn the lesson that our enjoyment of good things is in proportion to the pains we undergo for them.
11. Toil is the seasoning of delight; without desire and longing, no dish, however costly, could be sweet.
12. Therefore let us strain every nerve to win and to keep nobility of mind.
13. For what excuse could we offer for becoming unworthy of ourselves, if our very success at attaining the good made us so?
14. Are idleness, thoughtlessness, cowardice, then, the adjuncts of happiness? No: let us watch over ourselves, and maintain the good we have attained;
15. Let us encourage ourselves in the pursuit and keeping of all that is beautiful and brave.
16. And furthermore let us educate our children according to these precepts, if children are born to us,
17. For we cannot but become better ourselves if we strive to set the best example we can to our children,
18. And our children could hardly grow up to be unworthy, even if they wished,
19. When they see nothing base before them, and hear nothing shameful,
20. But live in the practice of all that is beautiful and good.
Chapter 8
1. Shall we ask, by what commandments should we live?
2. Or might we better ask, each of ourselves:
3. What kind of person should I be?
4. The first question assumes that there is one right answer.
5. The second assumes that there are many right answers.
6. If we ask how to answer the second question, we are answered in yet other questions:
7. What should you do when you see another suffering, or in need, afraid, or hungry?
8. What causes are worthy, what world do you dream of where your child plays safely in the street?
9. There are many such questions, some already their own answer, some unanswerable.
10. But when all the answers to all the questions are summed together, no one hears less than this:
11. Love well, seek the good in all things, harm no others, think for yourself, take responsibility, respect nature, do your utmost, be informed, be kind, be courageous: at least, sincerely try.
12. Add to these ten injunctions, this: O friends, let us always be true to ourselves and to the best in things, so that we can always be true to one another.
Chapter 9
1. Seek always for the good that abides. There can be none except as the mind finds it within itself;
2. Wisdom alone affords everlasting and peace-giving joy, for then, even if some obstacle arises,
3. It is only like an intervening cloud, which floats beneath the sun but never prevails against it.
4. When will you attain this joy? It will begin when you think for yourself,
5. When you truly take responsibility for your own life,
6. When you join the fellowship of all who have stood up as free