2010-07-21

The golden rule

I remember that when I was about 20 and had a philosophical crisis, one of the most asked questions to myself (and others) were:
What should I do?
How should I treat my neighbors?
How should I do this or that?
You could spend ages answering these questions and there are plenty of books written trying to answer these questions, but there is a simple rule of thumb:
Behave the same way as you would enjoy to see everyone else behaving.
Or (in other words):
Treat others as you would like to be treated.
This applies to:
  • How you treat your family, friends, neighbors and foreigners,
  • How you do your work,
  • How you treat your environment,
  • and more
Examples:
  1. Don't kill others if you don't want to be killed.
  2. Don't drop waste in front of your neighbors house.
  3. Don't lie to people.
  4. ...
Instead of thinking too much before you do, just feel, what is best.

More information on the golden rule on Wikipedia.

Related posts: The main purpose, Something more important, Focus by direction, Razor sharp focus, Direction over goals, Principles over rules, The value of experience, Replace constraint with freedom, The family, Considerations on decisions.