A history of social thoughtBogardus, Emory S. (Emory Stephen)
History
A history of social thought
Bogardus, Emory S. (Emory Stephen)
Social psychology; Sociology -- History
He who praises me on all occasions is a fool who despises me or a knave
who wishes to cheat me.
Govern thyself, and you will be able to govern the world.
The hearts of the people are the only legitimate foundations of an
empire.
By nature all men are alike; but by education, widely different.
For the sake of one good action, a hundred evil ones should be
forgotten.
To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree
without a root.
Rogues differ little; each began first as a disobedient son.
Of all man’s actions, there is none greater than filial piety.
When they saw an old man, people walking or driving gave him the road.
Men who had white hairs mingling with the black did not carry burdens
along the highways (care for the aged).
When the man of high station is well instructed, he loves men; when the
man of low station is well instructed, he is easily ruled.
Three friendships are advantageous: friendship with the upright,
friendship with the sincere, and friendship with the man of
observation. Three are injurious: friendship with a man of spurious
airs, friendship with the insinuatingly soft, and friendship with the
glib-tongued.
Who taught you politeness? The impolite.
To be a successful monarch, one must be a just monarch.
Of the different peoples which have thus far been considered, the
Chinese have furnished the most elaborate degree of social thought.
While the social ideals of the Chinese are largely unsystematic, they
accent the family and the state as essential social institutions. They
also reveal even a significant conception of world brotherliness.
The Chinese have probably created more social proverbs than any
other people, past or present. For the stage of civilization that
is represented by proverbs and sayings, the social thought of the
Chinese is unsurpassed. In this regard the Chinese have but one close
competitor, the ancient Hebrews.
(5) The Persians, who after their defeat by Alexander the Great in
331 B. C. have been credited with having turned over the torch of
civilization to the Greeks, made a contribution to social thought
similar to that of the other ancient peoples. Under Cyrus the Great,
Darius, and Xerxes a system of state education was fostered which
was designed chiefly to train soldiers. It did not stress social and
intellectual development, although it existed in a land that produced
the Magi. The individuals who were not in the army received slight
educational benefits.
It is in the teachings of Zoroaster of the sixteenth century B. C.
that we first find the main trend of Persian social thought. The Zend
Avesta, the document from which Zoroasterism and the modern Parsee
religion have evolved, emphasizes the principle of kindliness in all
important human relationships. Sanitation, business honesty, and
chastity in family relationships are taught.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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