golden rule

Golden Rule,

in the New Testament, saying of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew he says, "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets." The Gospel of St. Luke has "Do to others as you would have them do to you." It is stated negatively in the Book of Tobit in the Arpocrypha.

Golden Rule

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

"Do unto others what you would have them do unto you," a staple of most religious traditions, is a philosophy known as the golden rule.

Sometimes it is cast in the negative:

Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful (Udanavarga).

Confucianism: Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you (Analects 15:2).

Hinduism: Do naught unto others [that] which would cause you pain if done to you (Mahabharata 5:1517).

Judaism: That which is hateful unto you, do not impose on others (Talmud, Shabbat 31a).

Other times it is put in positive terms:

Christianity: As you wish that men would do to you, do so to them (Luke 6:13).

Islam: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself (Sunan).

golden rule

1. any of a number of rules of fair conduct, such as Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7:12) or thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Leviticus 19:28)

2. another name for rule of three