This Maxim goes hand-in-hand with the one that advises us to “Be a seeker of wisdom” in that it gives us one of many possible paths to following the earlier Maxim. But, like most of the other maxims, it is much more than the simplistic reading would have us believe. First we must determine who…

This is an interesting Maxim in that many times we want to ask the Gods for things that are not likely to happen in our lives. It reminds us to notpray for things like winning the lottery, but rather for things that are more likely. This is not to say that if a friend or…

Murder is “the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder),  and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation…

This is a Maxim that many of us have to work on – myself included. In our society we are told to “act, not react” and although this is good advice on some levels, many times it causes us to act before we have complete information. Sometimes it even prompts us to act before we…

At this point I am 1/3 of the way through the Maxims and I see this one and say ‘Yikes!’ because I had always felt that choosing what is divine might be a form of hubris. Yet, the Maxims do not advise us to do what is not right in the sight of the Gods…

This is one of my favorite Maxims so far. It is one that is definitely active in that we are to look for wisdom in our daily lives. And, in fact, it could be possibly better translated as “Become a lover of wisdom”. We are not just to be a seeker of wisdom; in the…

”If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” How many times have we heard that from our parents? How many times have we said it to our children? This Maxim is simple enough on its face that it is being used in modified form even now by parents all around the world.…

Deceit is defined as “the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating”. Fear is perhaps better defined here as “avoid” instead of what we would think of as “fear” in English. And it is because of these two definitions that we should be cautious about those who would use deceit upon us. Deceit is one of the most prevalent of…

This Maxim is about helping others. It does not say that we give more than we can afford to give or even “give till it hurts”. It is about giving what you can afford to give – even if it is not in monetary terms. If that means going every 8 weeks to a blood…

This Maxim translates best into our modern times as “Educate your Children”, although in ancient times girls were not often given an education. Education is something that we should never take for granted as there are places in the world where children struggle – and sometimes suffer – to get educated. But, ultimately, as parents…