Example, not precept, is the best teaching aid.
My precept to all who build, is, that the owner should be an ornament to the house, and not the house to the owner.
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
The Wright brothers committed themselves to do what no one else had ever done before. They took time to do their homework. They were humble and smart enough to appreciate and learn about the work of others who went before. And they tackled the problem line upon line, precept upon precept.
The nation has placed its faith in the precept that all laws should be inspired by actual needs here on earth as a basic fact of national life.
It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.
That the foundation of our national policy should be laid in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity, of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice.
I, for my part, acknowledge another precept which says that man must deal the final blow to those whose downfall is destined by God.
Many die too late, and some die too early. Yet strangers soundeth the precept: "Die at the right time!"
Mindful consumption is the object of this precept. We are what we consume. If we look deeply into the items that we consume every day, we will come to know our own nature very well. We have to eat, drink, consume, but if we do it unmindfully, we may destroy our bodies and our consciousness, showing ingratitude toward our ancestors, our parents, and future generations.
Practice the precept: find without seeking
In almost everything, experience is more valuable than precept.
Where one person shapes their life by precept and example, there are a thousand who have shaped it by impulse and circumstances.
Example is better than precept.
Example is always more efficacious than precept.
I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life. We cannot support any act of killing; no killing can be justified. But not to kill is not enough. . . If in your thinking you allow the killing to go on, you also break this precept. We must be determined not to condone killing, even in our minds.
We must look deeply. When we buy something or consume something, we may be participating in an act of killing. This precept [non-killing] reflects our determination not to kill, either directly or indirectly, and also to prevent others from killing.
The right of holding slaves is clearly established in the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example.
What could ever be a sufficient reason for excusing in any way the direct murder of the innocent? This is precisely what we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the child, it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: 'Thou shalt not kill. '
Example is more powerful than precept.
