Before You Speak

You have heard it said*: “Before you speak let your words pass through three gates.
At the first gate, ask yourself: ‘Is it true.’
At the second gate ask: ‘Is it necessary.’
At the third gate ask: ‘Is it kind.’”

But I say unto you: "Before you speak let your words pass through three gates.

At the first gate, ask yourself: "Is it true."

At the second gate ask:  "Is it useful."

At the third gate ask:  "Is it kind."

* Sufi Saying

You Ought to Do the Right Thing

You have heard it said*:

“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing.  It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

But I say unto you:

"It is both the action and the fruit of the action that are important.  You ought to do the right thing that produces the right fruit.  It may not be in your power to produce the right fruit, or it may be that your action does not produce the right fruit in your time, but that does not mean you stop doing the right thing.  After all, you never know what results may come from your action.  However, if you do nothing, there will be a result and that result is likely to produce a bad fruit either for the external world around us or for the soul within yourself."

*Mohandas Gandhi