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- Anguttara Nikaya IV.115
- Thana Sutta
- Courses of Action
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
"Monks, there are these four courses of action. Which four? There is the course of
action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There
is the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is
profitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done,
leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do and
that, when done, leads to what is profitable.
"Now as for the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done,
leads to what is unprofitable, one considers it as not worth doing for both reasons:
because the course of action is unpleasant to do, one considers it as not worth doing; and
because the course of action, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, one considers it
as not worth doing. Thus one considers it as not worth doing for both reasons.
"As for the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads
to what is profitable, it is in light of this course of action that one may be known -- in
terms of manly stamina, manly persistence, manly effort -- as a fool or a wise person. For
a fool doesn't reflect, 'Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when
it is done it leads to what is profitable.' So he doesn't do it, and thus the non-doing of
that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects,
'Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to
what is profitable.' So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to
what is profitable for him.
"As for the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to
what is unprofitable, it is in light of this course of action that one may be known -- in
terms of manly stamina, manly persistence, manly effort -- as a fool or a wise person. For
a fool doesn't reflect, 'Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when
it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.' So he does it, and thus the doing of that
course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, 'Even
though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is
unprofitable.' So he doesn't do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads
to what is profitable for him.
"As for the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to
what is profitable, one considers it as worth doing for both reasons: because the course
of action is pleasant to do, one considers it as worth doing; and because the course of
action, when done, leads to what is profitable, one considers it as worth doing. Thus one
considers it as worth doing for both reasons.
"These are the four courses of action."