On Good and Evil

And one of the elders of the city

said, Speak to us of Good and Evil.

And he answered:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not

of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by

its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food

even in dark caves, and when it thirsts

it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with

yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself

you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of

thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander

aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink

not to the bottom.

You are good when

you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain

for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are

but a root that clings to the earth and

sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root,

“Be like me, ripe and full and ever

giving of your abundance.”

For to the fruit giving is a need, as

receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in

your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep

while your tongue staggers without

purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen

a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal

firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither

limping.

Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift, see

that you do not limp before the lame,

deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you

are not evil when you are not good,

You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach

swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies

your goodness: and that longing is in

all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a

torrent rushing with might to the sea,

carrying the secrets of the hillsides

and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that

loses itself in angles and bends and

lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to

him who longs little, “Wherefore are

you slow and halting?”

For the truly good ask not the naked,

“Where is your garment?” nor the

houseless, “What has befallen your

house?”