Greco-Christian stream·The Imitation of Christ·Book II — Admonitions Concerning the Inner Life·Chapter III. Of The Good, Peaceable Man
III. Of the good, peaceable man
Esto pacificus apud te ipsum, et alios pacificare poteris — be peaceful in thyself, and then thou shalt be able to pacify others. The famous formula of inward-outward peace. The peaceable person more useful than the learned; charity informed by peace more powerful than knowledge driven by zeal.
Source context
- Theme
- interior peace as the fruit of self-mastery and ordered charity toward neighbor
- Soul-faculty
- Intellectual Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Stoic apatheia (Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius)The Stoic discipline of eliminating passionate disturbance through reason and consent to logos shows cross-tradition congruence with Kempis's insistence that the peaceable man harms no one and converts quarrel into inner stillness.
- Sufi maqam of tawadu (humility-station)In Sufi station-doctrine, tawadu designates the rank in which the nafs no longer projects its disorder outward onto others, showing cross-tradition congruence with the chapter's linking of peaceableness to interior self-subordination.
- Buddhist sila (ethical discipline as precondition of samadhi)The Buddhist principle that undisturbed harmlessness toward others is the necessary foundation for meditative composure shows cross-tradition congruence with Kempis's argument that the good man pacifies others precisely because he first pacifies himself.
Chapter III. Of The Good, Peaceable Man
OF THE GOOD, PEACEABLE MAN
First keep thyself in peace, and then shalt thou be able to be a peacemaker towards others. A peaceable man doth more good than a well-learned. A passionate man turneth even good into evil and easily believeth evil; a good, peaceable man converteth all things into good. He who dwelleth in peace is suspicious of none, but he who is discontented and restless is tossed with many suspicions, and is neither quiet himself nor suffereth others to be quiet. He often saith what he ought not to say, and omitteth what it were more expedient for him to do. He considereth to what duties others are bound, and neglecteth those to which he is bound himself. Therefore be zealous first over thyself, and then mayest thou righteously be zealous concerning thy neighbour.
2Thou knowest well how to excuse and to colour thine own deeds, but thou wilt not accept the excuses of others. It would be more just to accuse thyself and excuse thy brother. If thou wilt that others bear with thee, bear thou with others. Behold how far thou art as yet from the true charity and humility which knows not how to be angry or indignant against any save self alone. It is no great thing to mingle with the good and the meek, for this is naturally pleasing to all, and every one of us willingly enjoyeth peace and liketh best those who think with us: but to be able to live peaceably with the hard and perverse, or with the disorderly, or those who oppose us, this is a great grace and a thing much to be commended and most worthy of a man.
3There are who keep themselves in peace and keep peace also with others, and there are who neither have peace nor suffer others to have peace; they are troublesome to others, but always more troublesome to themselves. And there are who hold themselves in peace, and study to bring others unto peace; nevertheless, all our peace in this sad life lieth in humble suffering rather than in not feeling adversities. He who best knoweth how to suffer shall possess the most peace; that man is conqueror of himself and lord of the world, the friend of Christ, and the inheritor of heaven.
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