Do you have a favorite version of the golden rule — Ethic of Reciprocity?
Or an ungolden rule: “Do it to others before they do it to you”?
Updating the rule for 2019:
The golden rule has been expressed in various ways for ages. The Unitarians are the dullest: “We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent of all existence of which we are a part.”
Ancient Greece:
Plato: “May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me.”
Socrates:“Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you.”
Epictetus: “What you would avoid suffering yourself, seek not to impose on others.”
Confucianism: “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.” When Confucius was asked, “Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?”, he answered, “It is the word ‘she’ — reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”
Taoism: “To those who are good to me, I am good; to those who are not good to me, I am also good. Thus all get to be good.”
“Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.” Anonymous.
As for Christians, it’s in the gospels of Mathew and Luke. But it’s best said in the Gospel of Thomas, a gospel that never made it into the bible: “Don’t do what you hate.”
