“Sacred texts caution us not to be harsh and judgmental of others’ faults, even where they are blatantly evident to the point of causing pain. The admonition not to regard the speck in your neighbor’s eye before removing the log from your own finds parallels in many scriptures. Rather than justify ourselves and blame others, we should look into ourselves, not only to cleanse such feelings of resentment, but alos to identify similar “faults of our own. After all, we can only see in others what we in some way are ourselves.” ~ unknown

“The vile are ever prone to detect the faults of others, though they be as small as mustard seeds, and persistently shut their eyes against their own, though they be as large as Vilva fruit.”

~ Garuda Purana 112 (Hinduism)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment that you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

~ Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5 (Christianity)

“A man holding a basket of eggs should not dance on stones.”

~ Buji Proverb (Traditional Religion of Nigeria)

Easily seen are others’ faults, hard indeed to see are one’s own. Like chaff one winnows others’ faults, but one’s own one hides, as a crafty fowler conceals himself by camouflage. He who sees others’ faults is ever irritable–his corruptions grow.”

~ Dhammapada 252-53 (Buddhism)

“Happy is the person who finds fault with himself instead of finding fault with others.”

~ Hadith (Islam)

“If you want to criticize someone, first criticize yourself more than three times.”

~ Sun Myung Moon, 9-30-69 (Unification Church)

“The gentleman calls attention to the good points in others; he does not call attention to their defects. The small man does just the reverse of this.”

~ Analects 12.16 (Confucianism)

“He who treads the Path in earnest
Sees not the mistakes of the world;
If we find fault with others
We ourselves are also in the wrong.
By getting rid of this habit of fault-finding
We cut off a source of defilement.”

~ Sutra of Hui Neng 2 (Buddhism)

“Do not judge another until thou hast stood in his place.”

~ Mishnah, Abot 2.5 (Judaism)

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And when they heard this, they went away, one by one, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

~ John 8:2-11 (Christianity)

Filed under: Reconciling the Religions by Scaughdt