(7) Noble indeed are they all; but the man endowed with wisdom I deem to be My very Self. For, steadfast in mind, he remains fixed in Me alone as the Supreme Goal.

(12) Who is equal-minded towards friends and enemies, in honour and disgrace, in heat and cold, and pleasure and pain, who is free from attachment (desire and selfishness), who is silent (meditating), who is satisfied with what-so-ever he gets, who has no particular home, who is decided in mind, who is devoted to Me, such a man is dear to Me.

(7) Of these, the wise man, ever steadfast and devoted to the One alone, is the best. For supremely dear am I to the man of wisdom, and he is dear to Me.

(319) After God, honor a wise man, since he is the servant of God.

(6) He who is equal-minded towards the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, neutrals, haters, relations, towards the righteous and also the wicked, excels.

(325) Someone who says "I believe," even if he spends a long time pretending, he will not prevail, but he will fall; as your heart is, (so) will be your life.

(376) A man who is worthy of God, he is God among men, and he is the son of God.

(2) He who has no attachment to anything anywhere, who does not rejoice and hate when good and bad things happen, his wisdom is fixed and steady.

(381) He who makes his mind like unto God as far as he is able, he is the one who honors God greatly.

(2) The intelligent, whose body is spirit, whose form is light, whose thoughts are true, whose nature is like ether (omnipresent and invisible), from whom all works, all desires, all sweet odours and tastes proceed; he who embraces all this, who never speaks, and is never surprised,

(384) It is a faithful person fond of learning who is the worker of the truth.

(176) A wise man is a doer of good works after God.

(5) "Those who have the disposition of their soul well suited not to one only of these things, but to them all - those I assert to be wise and perfect men, and to possess all the virtues."

(33) He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty. He who is satisfied with his lot is rich; he who goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will. He who does not fail in the requirements of his position, continues long; he who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.

(3) Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

(18) Who is free from the egoistic notion (“I am the doer”), whose intellect is not tainted (by contact with objects and functions), though having slain all the beings, he does not slay, nor is he bound (by the evil of action).

(521) must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and gold, but in virtue and wisdom, which are the true blessings of life. Whereas if they go to the administration of public affairs, poor and hungering after their own private advantage, thinking that hence they are to snatch the chief good, order there can never be; for they will be fighting about office, and the civil and domestic broils which thus arise will be the ruin of the rulers themselves and of the whole State. Most true, he replied. And the only life which looks down upon the life of political ambition is that of true philosophy. Do you know of any other? Indeed, I do not, he said. And those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task? For, if they are, there will be rival lovers, and they will fight. No question. Who then are those whom we shall compel to be guardians? Surely they will be the men who are wisest about affairs of State, and by whom the State is best administered, and who at the same time have other honours and another and a better life than that of politics? They are the men, and I will choose them, he replied. And now shall we consider in what way such guardians will be produced, and how they are to be brought from darkness to light,—as some are said to have ascended from the world below to the gods? By all means, he replied. The process, I said, is not the turning over of an oyster-shell 2 , but the turning round of a soul passing from a day which is little better than night to the true day of being, that is, the ascent from below 3 , which we affirm to be true philosophy? Quite so. And should we not enquire what sort of knowledge has the

(3) What-so-ever a great man does, that other men do; whatever he sets up as the standard, that the world follows.

(81) Open the door for yourself, that you may know the One who is. Knock on yourself, that the Word may open for you. For he is the Ruler of Faith and the Sharp Sword, having become all for everyone because he wishes to have mercy on everyone.

(7) Endeavour to be great in the estimation of divinity, but among men avoid envy.

The wise man whose estimation with men was but small while he was living, will be renowned when he is dead.