Two handles

I share here two parts of the Enchiridion (a work by Epictetus, a Greek philosopher who lived about 2 millennia ago)

 43. Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be carried, the other by which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly, don't lay hold on the action by the handle of his injustice, for by that it cannot be carried; but by the opposite, that he is your brother, that he was brought up with you; and thus you will lay hold on it, as it is to be carried.

44. These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better." The connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;" "I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours." But you, after all, are neither property nor style.

I think that the wisdom in the first part (43) is amazing. Please let it sink in for awhile. If we replace brother by spouse, it becomes still more relevant. In the current times we do spend far more time with our spouses than with our siblings. If our spouse does something unjust or not right to us, do not get blinded by the part of the injustice, but keep in mind that our spouse is the one we love and the one who loves us. There are so many imperfections in each of us and if we think deep and hard enough, we will find that we have not always be perfectly just to them either. Let us hold the handle that can be held. So nice, isn't it?

The second part (44) speaks for itself. Another piece of superb wisdom. 

Sometimes, when I read superb pieces of wisdom like this which have been around for so very long, I find it a bit sad that these things are not common knowledge, that these things are not taught in our schools as something everyone should know.

Let us all get so excited about wisdom, that we actively search for a bit of wisdom every week, or even every day and then share it with our friends, with our family. :)