The Laws of Manu Quotes

“Piensa bien antes de actuar, habla de acuerdo con la verdad, mira por dónde caminas y filtra el agua que has de beber (Manu Smriti).”
― Manu, The Laws of Manu

“A work of encyclopedic scope, The Laws of Manu (in Sanskrit, the Mānavadharmaśāstra or Manusmṛti, and informally known as Manu) 5 consists of 2,685 verses”
― Manu, The Laws of Manu

“Right and wrong (dharma and adharma) do not go about saying, ‘Here we are’; nor do gods, centaurs, or ancestors say, ‘This is right, that is wrong.’ ĀPASTAMBA1 To set up a law-book of the kind of Manu means to concede to a people the right henceforth to become masterly, to become perfect – to be ambitious for the highest art of living. To that end, the law must be made unconscious: this is the purpose of every holy lie. NIETZSCHE2 These two epigrams suggest two very different views of The Laws of Manu, the first from inside the tradition, acknowledging the complexity of its moral judgements, and the second from the outside, arguing for the duplicity of its presentation of those judgements.”
― Manu, The Laws of Manu