Exhort to Righteousness

Buddhism

Hasten to do good; restrain your mind from evil. 
He who is slow in doing good, his mind delights in evil. 

Should a person commit evil, let him not do it again and again. 
Let him not find pleasure therein, for painful is the accumulation of evil. 

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. 
Let him fin pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good. 

It may be well with the evil-doer as long as the evil ripens not. 
But when it does ripen, then the evil-doer sees (the painful results of) his evil deeds. 

It may be ill with the doer of good as long as the good ripens not. 
But when it does ripen, then the doer of good sees (the pleasant results of) his good deeds. 

Think not lightly of evil, saying, “It will not come to me.” Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil. 

Think not lightly of good, saying, “It will not come to me.” Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good. 

Just as a trader with a small escort and great wealth would avoid a perilous route, 
or just as one desiring to live avoids poison, even so should one shun evil. 

If on the hand there is no wound, one may carry even poison in it. 
Poison does not affect one who is free from wounds. For him who does no evil, there is no ill. 

Like fine dust thrown against the wind, 
evil falls back upon that fool who offends an inoffensive, pure and guiltless man. 

Some are born in the womb; the wicked are born in hell; 
the devout go to heaven; the stainless pass into Nibbana. 

Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, 
nowhere in the world is there a place where one may escape from the results of evil deeds. 

Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, 
nowhere in the world is there a place where one may will not be overcome by death

Dhammapada 116-128

 

“As a single drop of water fills a bucket, so do small deeds of evil; as a single drop of water fills a bucket, so do small deeds of good.”
“It is ignorance that smothers, and it is carelessness that makes it invisible. The hunger of craving pollutes the world, and the pain of suffering causes the greatest fear.”

Gautama Buddha

 

Christianity

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Acts 20:35

 

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:13-14

 

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

Matthew 25:35

 

Hinduism

No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come. 

Bhagavad Gita 6:40

 

Islam

And when the relatives and the orphans and Al-Masakin (the poor) are present at the time of division, give them out of the property, and speak to them words of kindness and justice.

Quran 4:8

 

Worship Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good – to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the Companion by your side, the wayfarer you meet, and what your right hands possess…

Quran 4:36

 

The reward of goodness is nothing but goodness.

Quran 55:60

 

Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it 

Quran 99:7

 

The believer is not he who eats his fill while his neighbor is hungry.”

Al-Albani, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari, Hadith 112

 

Do not turn away a poor man, even if all you can give is half a date. If you love the poor and bring them near you, God will bring you near Him on the Day of Resurrection.

 Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1376

 

“Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately and know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the most beloved deed to Allah’s is the most regular and constant even though it were little.”

Prophet Muhammad (s) as narrated by A’isha (ra) in Sahih Bukhari, vol. 8, hadith 471

 

“Indeed, an ignorant man who is generous is dearer to God than a worshipper who is miserly.”

Al-Tirmidhi: Hadith 580

 

Judaism

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”

Deuteronomy 15:11