Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth!
Buddha Dhammapada, Verse 223, Anger (300 BCE) Translated by F. Max Müller
Source checked by an editor
When and why it was written
- When
- From the chapter on anger in the Dhammapada.
- Why
- The verse gives a remedy for each fault by naming its opposite.
What it means
Each pair answers a harm with its opposite rather than with more of the same. Anger meets love, greed meets generosity, the lie meets truth.
It reads like a list of exchanges, which makes it practical: when you notice one, you know what to reach for.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
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Dhammapada by Traditional (Pali Canon), 300 BCE
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