Q0370

Dhammapada

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Let one not regard the faults of others, nor what others have done or left undone; let one regard rather one's own deeds, done and undone.
Thinker Dhammapada
School Early Buddhism
Source Dhammapada 50
Theme Self-examination
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Dhammapada 50, within the tradition of Early Buddhism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self-examination, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Dhammapada's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Dhammapada. (n.d.). Let one not regard the faults of others, nor what others have done or left undone; let one regard rather one's own deeds, done and undone. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0370

MLA: Dhammapada. “Let one not regard the faults of others,….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0370.

Chicago: Dhammapada. “Let one not regard the faults of others,….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0370.

Same thinker

More from Dhammapada

  1. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law.
  2. To avoid all evil, to cultivate the good, and to cleanse one's mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
  3. One is one's own refuge; who else could be the refuge?
  4. You yourselves must strive; the Buddhas only point the way.
  5. Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world.

All quotations by Dhammapada

Same theme

More on self-examination

  1. The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.
  2. I searched for myself.
  3. Thinking is the habit of examining whatever happens to come to pass or to attract attention.
  4. The Master said: When three people walk together, one of them is sure to be my teacher. I select what is good in them and follow it; what is not good, I correct in myself.
  5. Zengzi said: Each day I examine myself on three counts: In acting on behalf of others, have I been loyal? In dealings with friends, have I been trustworthy? Have I practiced what was passed on to me?

Browse the self-examination theme