October 20

The life of a human being is only reasonable when it is understood as a performance of duty, as a service.

1

We know only one thing for certain, which is that death awaits us. “A human being’s life is like a swallow flying through a room.” We arrive, from no one knows where, and we depart, to no one knows where. Impenetrable darkness behind us, thick shadows up ahead. When our time comes, what would it matter to us whether or not we ate delicious foods or worn soft clothes, whether we left a large fortune or nothing at all, whether we reaped laurels or were despised, whether we were considered scholars or ignoramuses—compared to how we used our God given talent.

— Henry George

2

The one who sees the ray of divine power in the smallest things in the world is a person of high understanding and high aspirations. Such a person respects himself and others and does not disdain the smallest of tasks, for he sees them as manifestations of divine power.

— Rumi

3

Virtue is a service that man must perform for his own sake. Even if there was neither heaven nor an omnipotent God, virtue would still be a necessary law of life. To know what is just, and to do it—this is both the duty and the superiority of the human being.

— Ramayana

4

When you meet a person, think not about how he can be useful to you, but about how you can serve him.

5

We are given an indubitable law for all our actions, and the actions that accord with this law cannot be stopped or restrained by any power. The fulfillment of this law is possible in prison and under the threat of torture and death.

6

What is clear is that my life in this God’s world has a meaning that is not independent but dutiful. What is clear is that in the material sense we will be defeated and will have to die; our eyes can see this, our reason speaks of this, the whole of nature bears witness to this; such is the law of life in God’s world, it is what pleases God. And, bit by bit, as this simple truth grows clearer, the one who comprehends this gradually loses the desire to fight and struggle with other people for the benefit of his material life, for the benefit of what turns out to be an alien, ephemeral and cruel lord.

— Buka

Seek for yourselves only the life which is good and which accords with God’s will—and you will wholly fulfill the service assigned to you.