Across cultures, continents, and centuries, humanity’s religious traditions have expressed a remarkably persistent ethical principle: treat others as you would wish to be treated. The languages, scriptures, cultures, and understandings of God are not identical, nor should we expect them to be. Divine Revelation has appeared across different lands and ages, addressing peoples with different needs and responding to the exigencies of different times. Outwardly, therefore, the religions may appear remarkably different. Yet beneath those differences, the essential spiritual teachings of true religion reveal a profound unity. Again and again, sacred scriptures call humanity toward love, justice, compassion, mercy, and recognition of our obligations to one another. Perhaps nowhere is that common foundation more plainly visible than in the principle we have come to call the Golden Rule.
| Tradition | Golden Rule Teaching | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Old Testament / Hebrew Bible | “Love your neighbor as yourself.” | Leviticus 19:18 |
| Christianity / New Testament | “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” | Matthew 7:12 |
| Judaism / Talmud | “That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.” | Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a:6 — Hillel |
| Buddhism | “All tremble at violence; life is dear to all. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.” | Dhammapada 130 |
| Hinduism | “One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of Righteousness.” | Mahabharata, Anushasana Parva 113 |
| Zoroastrianism | “That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self.” | Dādistān-ī Dēnīg 94:5 |
| Islam | “None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself.” | Sahih al-Bukhari 13 (Book 2, Hadith 6), narrated by Anas |
| Native American Indigenous | Pasinangwa — “treat others as you want others to treat you.” | Footprints of Hopi History: Hopihiniwtiput Kukveni’at, ch. 11 |
| Bahá’í Faith | “And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.” | Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, (Words of Paradise) |
The Golden Rule gives me a remarkably durable rule for living with other people. But time and experience have taught me that I also need a rule for living with everything that happens to me. Mine is considerably less ancient, decidedly less sacred, and much simpler. I call it my Silver Rule. It has two parts, and I have found that it works rather well alongside the gold:
It is my hope that you, my reader, discover a deep and lasting peace in your life.