can choose and adopt those that are good, and ignore those that are bad.
In all forms of progress, avoidance of the bad always precedes acceptance and knowledge of the good, just as a child at school learns to do its lessons right by having repeatedly pointed out to it how it has done them wrong. If one does not know what is wrong and how to avoid it, how can he know what is right and how to practise it? Bad, or untrue, actions are those that spring from a consideration of one’s own happiness only, and ignore the happiness of others, that arise in violent disturbances of the mind and unlawful desires, or that call for concealment in order to avoid undesirable complications. Good, or true, actions are those that spring from a consideration for others, that arise in calm reason and harmonious thought framed on moral principles, or that will not involve the doer in shameful consequences if brought into the full light of day.
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