WISDOM · DHAMMAPADA 60
One Useful Truth
Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.
Dhammapada 60 · Chapter 5, The Fool · trans. F. Max Müller · Read the full text at Project Gutenberg
Reflection
The verse begins, “Long is the night to him who is awake.” In its chapter, this image points toward humility about what we know. The old translation speaks sharply of ‘the fool’; it is more useful to read this as a pattern any person can enter or leave. Because this is a historic English translation, test the teaching in experience rather than treating its wording as a demand for belief.
Practice prompt
What is useful to know in this moment—and what is merely noise?