Integrity Be honest, especially to yourself. In order to achieve this, you need to be honest to others too. A common trap for dishonesty is to progressively believe your own lies. We often make life more complicated than need be, and being dishonest with ourselves and others exacerbates this, enclosing us in an ever-tightening web
Act with the intention to leave your surroundings unchanged or better than when you found them. A simple way of viewing this is to imagine your grandchildren will have better lives than you because of your legacy. Try and consider the long-term consequences of your behaviour or actions. Seemingly harmless events done in the present
Respect life The ancient Indian religion Jainism prescribes “ahimsa”, or a path of non-violence to all living beings. Jainism defines violence as intentional or unintentional harm. This could be related to “Empathise” so I have placed it second in the list, although I think this list should not be considered a list of priority. Jains
The first and most all-encompassing precept must be – Empathise The Golden Rule or The Ethic of Reciprocity is “Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated”. The alternative similar and more commonly known version may be easier and more useful to remember, but is not exactly the same
When power is held by representation Democracy These involve representation with a vote. The aim is to provide the people with as much representation as possible. The maximum amount of representation would resemble more an anarchistic system, or an Ancient Greek democratic system, which differs from a modern democracy in various ways. Modern democracies are