Zoroaster — "When we are in doubt whether an action is good or bad, abstain from it."
When we are in doubt whether an action is good or bad, abstain from it.
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More from Zoroaster
"Be kind to all beings. Especially those who bring you food."
"Always meet petulance with gentleness and perverseness with kindness. A gentle hand can lead even an elephant by a hair. Reply to thine enemy with gentleness."
"Whoso causes affliction to the righteous, him shall the evil spirit hold captive."
"The one who follows the destructive impulse is referred to as “deceitful”; the one who follows the beneficial impulse is “the upholder of cosmic order, righteous.”"
"The soul is immortal and will be judged according to its choices."
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
When you cannot tell whether something you are about to do is right or wrong, don't do it. Uncertainty itself is a warning sign. Rather than gambling on a choice that might cause harm, pause and hold back until you have clarity. The safer path is inaction when your conscience is unsettled, because a wrong act done in confusion still carries real consequences for you and others.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster built an entire ethical system around a conscious choice between Asha (truth, order) and Druj (falsehood, chaos). His faith emphasized personal moral responsibility through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. Because every act tilted the cosmic balance, hesitation in the face of moral uncertainty was not weakness but wisdom, aligning the follower with Ahura Mazda rather than risking complicity with evil.
The era
Zoroaster lived in ancient Persia, likely between 1500 and 1000 BCE, amid polytheistic tribal religions centered on ritual sacrifice and warrior cults. His teaching shifted focus from appeasing many gods to individual ethical conduct under one supreme creator. In a violent, cattle-raiding society where custom justified many harmful acts, urging restraint during moral doubt was radical, planting seeds that later shaped Judaic, Christian, and Islamic conscience-based ethics.
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