There Is No Evil

If one iota of the effort people put into getting rich, entertaining themselves, or arguing were invested in improving their inner self and not fighting their conscience, soon all the evil would disappear from this world.

Do not tell or complain about the bad things your loved ones have done.  If others gossip, judge, and criticize their neighbors, try to ignore it.  The less you judge others, the better it will be for you.

You cannot increase the goodness of this life.  Your life in itself is a good thing.  All you have to do is not spoil it.  We do live bad lives sometimes, but this is because we did bad things that we shouldn't have done.

The words, "Aut bene, aut nihil," are understood to mean, "About the dead say only good, or say nothing."  This is wrong.  One should say the opposite:  "About the living say only good,  or say nothing."  Doing this would save us from many mistakes and from mixing up what is good with what is evil.

Father Tolstoy