“And one of the elders of the city, said, speak to us of good and evil.And he answered:You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good.”

“You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.For those who limp go not backwards.But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.”

“And then a scholar said, "Speak of talking." And he answered, saying: "And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.”

“Then said a teacher, speak to us of teaching. And he said:The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple among his followers gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.”

“When love beckons to you follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him thought the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams”

“And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.”

“And now you ask in your heart, ‘How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?’Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.*People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.”