Aphorisms
Posted on a wall of the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man
These commandments are well suited to any sincere Order dedicated to inner development.
(Paraphrased and selected)
Remember yourself always and everywhere.
Like what your machine does not "like."
The highest that a human can attain is to be able to "do" -- consciously.
The worse the conditions of life, the more productive the work -- provided you remember the work.
Remember you came here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself and only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.
Here we can only create conditions, not help.
Know that an Order can be useful only to those who have recognised their nothingness and who believe in the possibility of changing.
A true sign of a good man is if he loves his father and mother.
Judge others by yourself and you will rarely be mistaken.
Only help him who is not an idler.
Respect every religion.
Love him who loves work.
Take the understanding of the East and the knowledge of the West -- and then seek.
Only he who can take care of what belongs to others may have his own.
Only conscious suffering has any value.
By teaching others you will learn yourself.
Remember that here work is not for work's sake but is only a means.
Only he can be just who is able to put himself in the position of others.
If you have not by nature a critical mind your staying here is useless.
He who has freed himself of the disease "tomorrow" has a chance to attain what he came here for.
Blessed is he who has soul, blessed is he who has none, but woe and grief to him who has one in embryo!
Sleep little without regret; rest comes not from the quantity but from the quality of sleep.
The energy spent on active work is immediately transformed into a fresh supply, but that spent on passive work is lost forever.
One of the best means for arousing the wish to work on oneself is to realise that you may die at any moment. But first you must learn how to keep it in mind.
Conscious Love evokes the same in response. Emotional Love evokes the opposite, physical Love depends on type and polarity.
Conscious faith is freedom, emotional faith is slavery, mechanical faith is foolishness.
Hope when bold, is strength, hope without doubt is cowardice. Hope with fear is weakness.
Man is given a definite number of experiences -- economising them, he prolongs his life.
Here there are neither Russians nor English, Jews nor Christians, but only those who pursue one aim: to be able to "be."