This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. English
  3. Government / Politics

extend the Golden Rule very far

English translation: get more and more people to practise the Golden Rule

09:06 Feb 11, 2019
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Government / Politics
English term or phrase: extend the Golden Rule very far
Hello everyone,

From the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas Friedman.

A rabbi once asked his students: “How do we know when the night has ended and the day has begun?” The students thought they grasped the importance of this question... Each answer brought a sadder, more severe frown to the rabbi’s face. Until finally he shouted, “No! None of you understands! You only divide!... The rabbi stared back into the faces of his students, and with a voice suddenly gentle and imploring, he responded: “When you look into the face of the person who is beside you, and you can see that person is your brother or your sister, then finally the night has ended and the day has begun.”

Hastening that heavenly day is the moral work of our generation. I don’t know where it ends, but I know where it has to start—by anchoring people in strong families and healthy communities. It is impossible to expect people ***to extend the Golden Rule very far*** if they are unmoored, unanchored, and insecure themselves. How to build strong families is beyond my skill set, but I know something about strong communities, because I grew up in one.

In the previous subchapter Mr. Friedman writes:

When I think of this challenge on a global scale, my own short prescription is that we need to find a way ***to get more people to practice the Golden Rule***. And it doesn’t matter which version you were taught. It can be “Do unto others as you would wish they would do unto you,” or its variant from the Babylonian Talmud, where the great Jewish teacher Rabbi Hillel famously said, “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow...

I know—to even talk about ***scaling the Golden Rule to more people in more situations*** sounds utterly unrealistic. But the simple truth is: If we can’t get more people doing unto others as they would want others to do unto them, if we can’t inspire more sustainable values, we will be “the first self-endangered species,” argues Amory Lovins.

Does "extend the Golden Rule very far" mean the same as "get more people to practice the Golden Rule" and "scaling the Golden Rule to more people in more situations"? Or does it mean "treat other people (who are more distant from us) according to the Golden Rule"?

Thank you.
Mikhail Korolev
Local time: 10:20
Selected answer:get more and more people to practise the Golden Rule
Explanation:
because otherwise, we'll be “the first self-endangered species,”

so more people need to “Do unto others as you would wish they would do unto you" i.e treat other people well, as they would wish to be treated themselves



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-02-11 11:31:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

First we need strong families, so people feel cherished, but we also need to extend that feeling into building strong commuities and to do this means treating others, who may be "distant" (i.e. not related to us in any way) as "your brother or your sister".
Thus more and more people will feel anchored within the community. No one will be "distant" or cut off from the strong community in which they live.

So yes, I think the scaling/extending is to do with more and more people treating others as themselves (thus expanding and strengthening the community).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 14 hrs (2019-02-12 23:59:03 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to have helped
Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 08:20
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Yvonne.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +2get more and more people to practise the Golden Rule
Yvonne Gallagher
4expect people to practice the Golden Rule more often in their behaviour
Daryo


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
to expect people to extend the Golden Rule very far
expect people to practice the Golden Rule more often in their behaviour


Explanation:
"It is impossible to expect people to extend the Golden Rule very far if they are unmoored, unanchored, and insecure themselves"
=>
what one person can do is not to make other people apply the Golden rule, but to "extend the Golden Rule very far" by applying it themselves to more people, ideally to all other people.

Insecure people tend to see danger everywhere, and see other other people as threat. People sure of themselves are more prone to apply this "Golden rule" to everyone.

IOW I think that here the "extending" is to be done by one person applying this "Golden rule" to more people that just a very limited circle, or even to no one.

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: you've misread/misunderstood the text.
1 hr
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
extend the golden rule very far
get more and more people to practise the Golden Rule


Explanation:
because otherwise, we'll be “the first self-endangered species,”

so more people need to “Do unto others as you would wish they would do unto you" i.e treat other people well, as they would wish to be treated themselves



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-02-11 11:31:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

First we need strong families, so people feel cherished, but we also need to extend that feeling into building strong commuities and to do this means treating others, who may be "distant" (i.e. not related to us in any way) as "your brother or your sister".
Thus more and more people will feel anchored within the community. No one will be "distant" or cut off from the strong community in which they live.

So yes, I think the scaling/extending is to do with more and more people treating others as themselves (thus expanding and strengthening the community).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 14 hrs (2019-02-12 23:59:03 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to have helped

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 08:20
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 56
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Yvonne.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AllegroTrans: yes and such a vital principle
2 hrs
  -> Many thanks:-) yes, unfortunately it's everyone for themselves a lot of the time these days.
agree  philgoddard
2 hrs
  -> Many thanks:-)
neutral  Daryo: that is certainly desirable, but I'm not sure that is what was meant.
9 hrs
  -> because you haven't understood it.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search