POEMS BY PYTHAGORAS

Never fall asleep after going to bed, Till you have carefully considered all your
actions of the day:
. Where have I gone amiss? What have I done? What have I omitted that I ought to
have done?
 If in this examination you find that you have gone amiss, reprimand yourself severely
for it;
 And if you have done any good, rejoice.. Practice thoroughly all these things;
meditate on them well, for you ought to love them with all your heart.
 It is they that will put you on the path of divine virtue.
 I swear it by the one who has transmitted into our souls the Sacred Quaternion, the
source of nature, whose cause is eternal.
But never begin to set your hand to any work, till you have first prayed to the gods to
accomplish what you are about to begin.
. . . observe justice in your actions and in your words.
 When you have become familiar with this habit, You will know the constitution of the
Immortal Gods and of humans.
 Even the extent of the power of gods and humans, and what contains and binds them
together.
Pythagoras