Some sources of the Gems

This page is a to-do list of aphorisms the source of which are not found yet. This is for upcoming enlarged edition of “Gems from the East” with precise reference to the origin, historical comments and original saying itself.

See Sources of the Gems published in Theosophy Forward for information about the sources which were found.

To be found:

January

9. False friendship is like a parasitic plant, it kills the tree it embraces.

14. He who hath too many friends, hath as many candidates for enemies.

19. Narrowness of mind causes stubbornness; we do not easily believe what is beyond that which we see.

28. A narrow stomach may be filled to its satisfaction, but a narrow mind will never be satisfied, not even with all the riches of the world.

29. He who neglects his duty to his conscience, will neglect to pay his debt to his neighbor.

30. Mite added to mite becomes a great heap; the heap in the barn consists of small grains.

31. He who tasteth not thy bread during thy lifetime, will not mention thy name when thou art dead.

February

2. A student without inclination for work is like a squirrel on its wheel; he makes no progress.

11. To feel one's ignorance is to be wise; to feel sure of one's wisdom is to be a fool.

12. One proof is better than ten arguments.

13. Rain in the morn brings the sun after noon. He who weeps today, may laugh tomorrow.

14. The soothsayer for evil never knows his own fate.

15. Like oil, truth often floats on the surface of the lie. Like clear water, truth often underlies the seeming falsehood.

21. Without Karma, no fisherman could catch a fish; outside of Karma, no fish would die on dry land, or in boiling water.

25. The path of virtue lies in the renunciation of the seven great sins.

26. The best possession of the man of clay is health; the highest virtue of the man of spirit is truthfulness.

27. Man walks on, and Karma follows him along with his shadow.

March

14. A good word in time is better than a sweet pie after meals.

16. Truth is brighter than the sun; truth is the sunny day of Reason, and falsehood the mind's dark night.

17. All has an end, and will away. Truth alone is immortal, and lives for ever.

18. The light of all flesh is the sun; the light of the soul — truth everlasting.

19. The road to sin is a wide highway; the way out of it, a steep and rugged hill.

22. Where two women meet, there a market springs; where three congregate, a bazaar is opened; and where seven talk, there begins a fair.

April

21. If thou losest all, and gettest wisdom by it, thy loss is thy gain.

22. Empty thy mind of evil, but fill it with good.

23. Great works need no great strength, but perseverance.

24. Sleep is but birth into the land of Memory; birth but a sleep in the oblivion of the Past.

25. To forgive without forgetting, is again to reproach the wrong-doer every time the act comes back to us.

29. People talk of the Devil. Every man has seen him; he is in every sinful heart.

May

2. He who feeds the hungry before he has assuaged his own hunger, prepares for himself eternal food. He who renounces that food for the sake of a weaker brother is — a god.

26. There is more courage in facing the world with undisguised truth, than in descending into a wild beast's den. (Хошанг?)

29. Wealth in the hands of one who thinks not of helping mankind with it, is sure to turn one day into dry leaves.

30. Like as the night follows the day, so misfortune is the shadow of joy; Karma bestowing her lots with both hands.

June

23. The one eternal, immutable law of life alone can judge and condemn man absolutely.

August

1. The man who neglects the truth he finds in his soul, in order to follow its dead-letter, is a time-server.

3. Man who has not hesitated to project his image in space and call it the Creator, sculpted not to endow God with his own vices.

September

7. The dog howls at the moon, but the moon heeds it not; be like the moon.

October

17. Whoever offers not food to the poor, raiment to the naked, and consolation to the afflicted, is reborn poor, naked, and suffering.

21. The worst of maladies is envy; the best of medicines is health.

November

12. By truth alone is man's mind purified, and by right discipline it doth become inspired.

15. An act may seem right, but it is by its results that its purpose is shown.

17. Learning clears the mind, and ignorance cobwebs it.

27. Intelligence is not shown by witty words, but by wise actions.

29. Craft has the best of men; boldness conquers cities; the first is despised, the last admired.

December

2. In health and wealth man is never in want of friends. True friends, however, are those who remain when they are needed.

3. Of all the animals on earth, man alone has the faculty of causing moral trouble.

If you have any helpful information or useful Internet links, please share them the author of the article. Aphorisms with comments and original text are finally going to be published in Theosophy.Wiki, each on the separate article.