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If one holds oneself dear,
one should diligently watch oneself.
Let the wise man keep vigil
during any of the three watches of the night.
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One should first establish oneself
in what is proper;
then only should one instruct others.
Thus the wise man will not be reproached.
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One should do what one teaches others to do;
if one would train others,
one should be well controlled oneself.
Difficult, indeed, is self-control.
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One truly is the protector of oneself;
who else could the protector be?
With oneself fully controlled,
one gains a mastery that is hard to gain.
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The evil a witless man does by himself,
born of himself and produced by himself,
grinds him as a diamond grinds a hard gem.
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Just as a single creeper
strangles the tree on which it grows,
even so, a man who is exceedingly depraved
harms himself as only an enemy might wish.
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Easy to do are things
that are bad and harmful to oneself.
But exceedingly difficult to do
are things that are good and beneficial.
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Whoever, on account of perverted views,
scorns the Teaching of the Perfected Ones,
the Noble and Righteous Ones —
that fool, like the bamboo,
produces fruits only for self destruction.
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By oneself is evil done;
by oneself is one defiled.
By oneself is evil left undone;
by oneself is one made pure.
Purity and impurity depended on oneself;
no one can purify another.
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Let one not neglect one's own welfare
for the sake of another, however great.
Clearly understanding one's own welfare,
let one be intent upon the good.