Zoroaster — "To him who chooses me, I shall give as a reward the best of existence, but to hi…"
To him who chooses me, I shall give as a reward the best of existence, but to him who does not choose me, I shall give the worst.
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More from Zoroaster
"May we be among those who shall make this world perfect, O Mazda Ahura, and may we be workers for the renovation of the world."
"Happiness comes to them who bring happiness to others."
"The wicked shall be punished, but the righteous shall be rewarded."
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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
The speaker warns that life offers a binary choice with direct consequences. Align with this path and receive the highest possible good; reject it and suffer the worst outcome. It frames morality as a personal decision each individual must make, with rewards and punishments flowing naturally from that choice rather than being arbitrarily assigned. Your fate depends on which side you commit to.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster founded a dualistic religion built on the free choice between Asha (truth, order) and Druj (deceit, chaos). As a prophet-reformer who claimed direct revelation from Ahura Mazda, he preached personal moral responsibility over tribal ritual. This saying embodies his core teaching: salvation hinges on conscious individual commitment, and every soul is judged by the side it voluntarily chooses to serve.
The era
Zoroaster lived in ancient Persia, likely between 1500–1000 BCE, among Indo-Iranian peoples practicing polytheistic ritual sacrifice led by priestly castes. Ethics were largely communal and tied to ceremonial observance rather than inner conviction. By introducing one supreme god, cosmic dualism, and personal accountability culminating in an afterlife judgment, Zoroaster broke sharply with this tradition and laid groundwork later echoed in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
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