Ptah-Hotep

Ptah Hotep (c. 2350 BC) was an Egyptian Vizier said to be adviser to the king during Old Kingdom. He is known for his instructions given to his son. The instructions are compiled in the book Instructions of Ptah-hotep. He advocated individual voluntarism. Personal aggressiveness of the age is clearly demonstrated in his instructions.

Wisdom & Quotes

• Wrong doing has never brought its undertaking to port.
• Beware of covetousness, which is a malady, a disease incurable. Intimacy with it is impossible, it makes the sweet friend bitter, it alienates the trusted one from his master, it makes both father and mother mad , and it divorces a man's wife.
• Let not thy heart be puffed up because of thy knowledge; do not be overconfident because thou are a wise man. Take counsel with the ignorant as well as the wise. The full limits of craftsmanship cannot be attained, and there is no craftsman equipped to his full ability.
• Love thy wife as is fitting. Fill her belly; clothe her back; ointment is the prescription for her body. Make her heart glad as long as thou livest, for she is a profitable field for her lord.
• Train thou thy son to be a docile man,

Whose wisdom is agreeable to the great;
Let him direct his mouth by what is said,
Docility his wisdom doth discover;
Conduct in him grows perfect day by day,
While error casts the unteachable away;
The ignorant and fool will be thrown over,
But knowledge shall lift up the scholar's head.
- On home education

• Teach him what has been said in the past; then he will set a good example to the children of the magistrates, and judgement and all exactitude shall enter into him. Speak to him, for there is none born wise.

- The Maxims of Ptahhotep (Introduction)

• Truth is great and its effectiveness endures.

- The Maxims of Ptahhotep

• The pleasure is only for a little moment, and it [passes] like a dream, and a man at the end thereof finds death through knowing it.

- The Maxims of Ptahhotep

• Beware an act of avarice; it is bad and incurable disease.

- The Maxims of Ptahhotep

• Do not repeat slander; you should not hear it, for it is the result of hot temper.

- The Maxims of Ptahhotep

• One who is serious all day will never have a good time, while one who is frivolous all day will never establish a household.

- The Maxims of Ptahhotep

• Be a craftsman in speech that thou mayest be strong, for the strength of one is the tongue, and speech is mightier than all fighting.

Nefer Rohu