Zoroaster — "Satisfaction linked with dishonor or with harm to others is a prison for the see…"
Satisfaction linked with dishonor or with harm to others is a prison for the seeker.
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More from Zoroaster
"The poet of Thy praise, I call myself, O Mazda!"
"Good will triumph over evil. But sometimes, evil has better snacks."
"If you want to know what a man is truly like, observe him when he thinks no one is watching. Or when he's trying to get a camel to cooperate."
"Whosoever, O Mazda, does not serve thee with the word, him I shall deliver into the hand of the wicked; for him shall be woe, and long punishment."
"That which is good for all and any one, For whomsoever- that is good for me. . . What I hold good for self, I should for all. Only Law Universal is true law."
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
Pleasure or contentment that comes at the cost of your integrity or by hurting someone else is not freedom at all. It traps the person seeking a meaningful life, locking them into guilt, dependency, and moral decay. Real fulfillment cannot coexist with shame or cruelty, because every gain built on wrongdoing becomes a chain. The pursuit of truth and goodness requires refusing satisfactions that compromise who you are or damage others.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster taught that humans face a constant choice between asha (truth, order) and druj (lies, harm), and that every action shapes the soul. As a reformer who rejected the ritual excesses and animal-cruelty of older Iranian cults, he framed ethics around personal accountability. This saying mirrors his core doctrine: good thoughts, good words, good deeds. Satisfaction gained through dishonor aligns a seeker with druj, imprisoning them spiritually rather than advancing them toward Ahura Mazda.
The era
Zoroaster lived in ancient Iran (likely 1500–1000 BCE), an era of tribal warfare, cattle-raiding, and polytheistic priesthoods that justified violence through ritual. Morality was often tied to clan loyalty rather than universal ethics. By preaching individual moral responsibility and a cosmic struggle between truth and deception, Zoroaster broke from the surrounding warrior culture where honor came from conquest and plunder. His message reframed satisfaction-through-harm as spiritual bondage, radical in a world that celebrated it.
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