Moral qualities are what matter most in human beings
April 23rd 2022
What matters first and foremost in human beings is their moral qualities. If they can reason well and control themselves, whatever comes their way, whether success or disaster, it bodes well for them. Ordinarily, when someone inherits a lot of money, for instance, or makes a brilliant match, everyone says, ‘Oh! What happiness, what luck!’
Only sages will not give an opinion before they have studied the question and understand the mentality of the person concerned. If the person is capricious, weak-willed and selfish, they will pity them and say, ‘What misfortune, because the higher someone with such a temperament rises, the harder they will fall. They will be broken.’ And when everyone pities someone because they have lost everything – their fortune, honour and good reputation – a sage may say, ‘This person is strong; they have a high ideal, and they will be able to transform these losses into spiritual riches.’
