| 1. | a rule of ethical conduct, usually phrased “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” or, as in the Sermon on the Mount, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so unto them.” Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31. |
| 2. | any philosophy, guiding principle, or ideal of behavior, as in a discipline, pursuit, or business: The protesters agreed that their golden rule would be “no violence.” |
| golden rule n. The biblical teaching that one should behave toward others as one would have others behave toward oneself. |
Golden Rule
precept in the Gospel of Matthew (7:12): "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. . . ." This rule of conduct is a summary of the Christian's duty to his neighbour and states a fundamental ethical principle. In its negative form, "Do not do to others what you would not like done to yourselves," it occurs in the 2nd-century documents Didache and the Apology of Aristides and may well have formed part of an early catechism. It recalls the command to "love the stranger (sojourner)" as found in Deuteronomy. It is not, however, peculiar to Christianity. Its negative form is to be found in Tob. 4:15, in the writings of the two great Jewish scholars Hillel (1st century BC) and Philo of Alexandria (1st centuries BC and AD), and in the Analects of Confucius (6th and 5th centuries BC). It also appears in one form or another in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, and Seneca
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