23 Apr Unhappy those who mourn (JORGE LUIS BORGES)
Wretched are they that mourn, for they already have the miserable habit of mourning.
Fortunate are they that know that suffering is not a crown of glory.
It sufficeth not to be the last in order to someday be the first.
Happy are they that do not insist they are right, for no man is or all men are.
Happy are they that forgive others and they that forgive themselves.
Blessed are the meek, for they do not condescend to disagreement.
Blessed are they that do not hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they know that our fortune, adverse or merciful, is a matter of chance, which is inscrutable.
Blessed are the merciful, for their happiness lies in the exercise of mercy and not in the hope of a reward.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness, for righteousness matters more to them than their human destiny.
Nobody is the salt of the earth; no one, at some moment in life, is not the salt of the earth.
The acts of men deserve neither hell fire nor heaven.
Hate not thine enemy, for upon doing so, thou art in some way his slave. Thy hate shall never be better than thy peace.
If thy right hand offend thee, forgive it; thou art thy body and thou art thy soul and it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the boundary that divides them…
Exaggerate not the cult of truth; there is no man that at the end of the day has not lied with good reason many times.
Swear not, for all swearing is an emphasis.
Resist evil, but without awe or anger. To whomsoever smite thee on thy right cheek, thou mayest turn the other also, as long as thou art not moved by fear.
I speak not of vengeance nor of forgiveness; to forget is the only vengeance and the only forgiveness.
Doing good to thine enemies is the best way to placate thy vanity.
Lay not up gold upon earth, because gold is the father of idleness, and the latter, of sadness and of boredom.
Judge not a tree by its fruits, neither a man by his works; they could be better or worse.
Nothing is built upon the rock, everything upon the sand, but our duty is to build as though the sand were rock…
Fragments of an Apocryphal Gospel
Jorge Luis Borges
Translated by Mark D Larsen
