do unto others

The so-called golden rule, that is, behave toward others as you would have them behave toward you; also, the converse, do not do to others what you would not like done to yourself. The sources for this state- ment are manifold: Confucius, Aristotle, the New Testament, the Koran, the Talmud. It continued to turn up in such sources as McGuffey’s Reader (1837): “You know, my child, the Bible says that you must always do to other peo- ple, as you wish to have them do to you.” George Bernard Shaw, never one to be put off by age-old precepts, quipped, “Do not do unto others as you would they should unto you. Their tastes may not be the same” (Maxims for Revolutionists, 1902).