First, a nursery rhyme that illustrates how our actions and details–both small and large–matter.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
The Upanishads express this causal chain elegantly with the following well known verse, previously quoted:
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Lastly, some reworked wisdom — Niemöller for the New Millennium, if you will:
First they came for the peace activists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a peace activist.
Then they came for the Muslims,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Muslim.
Then they came for the refugees,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was not a refugee.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
(After Pastor Martin Niemöller)
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