quote · Legacy record
Cause not fear among men; for [this] the God punisheth likewise. For there is a man that saith, 'Therein is life'; and he is bereft of the bread of his mouth. There is a man that saith, 'Power [is therein]'; and he saith, 'I seize for myself that which I perceive.' Thus a man speaketh, and he is smitten down. It is another that attaineth by giving unto him that hath not; not he that causeth men dread. For it happeneth that what the God hath commanded, even that thing cometh to pass. Live, therefore, in the house of kindliness, and men shall come and give gifts of themselves.
Cause not fear among men; for [this] the God punisheth likewise. For there is a man that saith, 'Therein is life'; and he is bereft of the bread of his mouth. There is a man that saith, 'Power [is therein]'; and he saith, 'I seize for myself that which I perceive.' Thus a man speaketh, and he is smitten down. It is another that attaineth by giving unto him that hath not; not he that causeth men dread. For it happeneth that what the God hath commanded, even that thing cometh to pass. Live, therefore, in the house of kindliness, and men shall come and give gifts of themselves.
Approximate author period: c. 1800 BC · ancient
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Ptahhotep (traditional literary attribution)
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1800 BC · ancient
Papyrus Prisse manuscript circa 1800 BCE (BnF); not quotation composition date or author lifetime
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke’Gemni (1906) (1906 AD)
Instruction of Ptah-Hotep, Gunn edition section 6; complete printed unit; literary attribution, not independently authenticated
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian