Zoroaster — "Purity for man is next to Godliness."
Purity for man is next to Godliness.
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More from Zoroaster
"The best word is that which speaks of truth, the best deed is that which is done for truth."
"The reward for righteousness is happiness, and for wickedness, unhappiness."
"A gentle hand can lead even an elephant by a hair."
"The choice between the two spirits, the better and the bad, is to be made by each individually."
"The soul of the righteous shall be joyful in the best existence, but the soul of the wicked shall be miserable in the worst existence."
About Zoroaster (c. 1500-1000 BCE (debated))
Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, the first major religion of cosmic dualism between good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu). Closely associated with The Buddha (near-contemporary Eastern moral-cosmological revolutionary). For an intellectual contrast, see Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher of 'beyond good and evil' — Nietzsche appropriated Zarathustra's name for Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) precisely to invert the original's moral cosmology — the historical Zoroaster founded the good-versus-evil framework Nietzsche's character announces the end of.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Keeping yourself clean, in body, mind, and actions, is one of the closest ways to approach the divine. The saying treats purity not as a minor virtue but as the step just below holiness itself. Living honestly, thinking clearly, and avoiding what corrupts you are the practical path toward a godly life. In modern terms, integrity and inner cleanliness are almost sacred, placing a person as near to God as a human can reasonably get.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster founded a religion built on the cosmic struggle between Asha (truth, order, purity) and Druj (lies, chaos, corruption). As a priest-prophet, he taught that humans choose sides daily through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. Ritual and moral purity were central to his reforms of Iranian religion, including fire tending, clean water, and honest speech. This saying distills his entire ethical system: purity is not decorative but the defining mark of a righteous follower aligned with Ahura Mazda.
The era
Zoroaster lived in ancient Iran, likely between 1500 and 1000 BCE, among Indo-Iranian tribes practicing polytheistic nature worship with elaborate, often bloody, sacrifices and shamanic rites. Hygiene, agriculture, and pastoral order mattered for survival on the steppe, and disease was read as spiritual contamination. Against this backdrop, his emphasis on cleanliness of fire, water, earth, body, and conscience was radical monotheistic reform, replacing fear-based ritual with an ethical framework later shaping Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
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