The Golden Rule, or the principle of treating others as you wish to be treated, is not unique to any single religion, but is a core ethical principle found in many different religious and philosophical traditions.
Here's a more detailed look:
Ancient Greece
The Golden Rule in its prohibitive (negative) form was a common principle in ancient Greek philosophy. Examples of the general concept include:- "Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – Thales (c. 624 – c. 546 BCE)
- "What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either." – Sextus the Pythagorean. The oldest extant reference to Sextus is by Origen in the third century of the common era.
- "Ideally, no one should touch my property or tamper with it, unless I have given him some sort of permission, and, if I am sensible I shall treat the property of others with the same respect." – Plato(c. 420 – c. 347 BCE)
- "Do not do to others that which angers you when they do it to you." – Isocrates(436–338 BCE)
- "It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly." – Epicurus (341–270 BC) where "justly" refers to "an agreement made in reciprocal association ... against the infliction or suffering of harm.
Ancient Persia
The Pahlavi Texts of Zoroastrianism (c. 300 BCE – 1000 CE) were an early source for the Golden Rule: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5, and "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others."Ancient Rome
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE – 65 CE), a practitioner of Stoicism (c. 300 BCE – 200 CE), expressed a hierarchical variation of the Golden Rule in his Letter 47, an essay regarding the treatment of slaves: "Treat your inferior as you would wish your superior to treat you."
Here's a more detailed look:
- Buddhism:
"Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others," (The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18).
- Confucianism:
"Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" (Confucius, Analects 15.23).
- Christianity:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 7:12, Matthew 22:39).
- Islam:
While not explicitly stated in the same way, the principle is reflected in Islamic teachings about treating others with kindness, compassion, and justice.
- Hinduism:
"One should not direct towards someone else what is unpleasant to oneself," (Mahabharata Udyoga Parvan 39.57).
- Judaism:
"Love your neighbor as yourself," (Leviticus 19:18).
- Sikhism:
"Compassion-mercy and religion are the support of the entire world," (Sikh Scripture).
- Zoroastrianism:
"That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself," (Zoroastrian scripture).
- Jainism:
While not directly stated, Jainism emphasizes ahimsa (non-violence) and compassion towards all living beings, which aligns with the Golden Rule.
- Taoism:
"Regard your neighbour's gain as your gain, and your neighbour's loss as your loss," (Taoist scripture).