The Universal Principle of Reciprocity

Reciprocity connects diverse faiths and values across the globe, embraced by billions through teachings that emphasize mutual respect and kindness.

Reciprocity Formulation Counts were gathered from The Golden Rule Project’s Formulation List.

Population Statistics and National Majority statistics were derived from the 2022 Statista Global Religious Population Dataset.

Test Your Knowledge

This Webpage and Video Have a Quiz you can take to test your knowledge and understanding of the content. This lesson is part of a larger education series.

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“Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”
Jesus
Matthew 7:12 (c. 30 CE)
Christian Population​
0 Billion
National Majorities​
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0
“None of you has faith until he loves for the people what he loves for himself, and until he loves a person only for the sake of Allah the Exalted.”
Muhammad
Hadith - Musnad Aḥmad 13463 (c. 570–632 CE)
Muslim Population​
0 Billion
National Majorities​
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0
“Act according to maxims of a universally legislating member of a merely possible kingdom of ends.”
Immanuel Kant
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785 CE)
Unaffiliated Population​
0 Billion
National Majorities​
0
Formulations
0
“This is the sum of duty. Do not unto others that which would cause you pain if done to you.”
Vidura
Mahabharata 5 1517 (c. 400 BCE)
Hindu Population​
0 Billion
National Majorities​
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0
“He who seeks his own happiness by oppressing others, who also desire to have happiness, will not find happiness in his next existence. He who seeks his own happiness by not oppressing others, who also desire to have happiness, will find happiness in his next existence.”
Buddha
Dhammapada Verses 131-132 (c. 563–483 BCE)
Buddhist Population​
0 Million
National Majorities​
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0
“The sage has no concern for himself but makes the concerns of others his own. He is good to those who are good. He is also good to those who are not good. That is the virtue of good.”
Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 49 (c. 600-400 BCE)
Folk Populations
0 Million
National Majorities
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0
“Now the man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. To be able to judge of others by what is nigh in ourselves? This may be called the art of virtue.”
Confucius
Analects 6:30 (c. 551–479 BCE)
Other Religious Populations​
0 Million
National Majorities​
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
Moses
Leviticus 19:18, Torah (c. 700-500 BCE)
Jewish Population
0 Million
National Majorities
0
Reciprocity Formulations​
0

Reciprocity Across Cultures and Time.

Throughout history, the principle of reciprocity has united thinkers across diverse cultures and eras, highlighting shared beliefs in mutual respect and fairness.

“Now this is the command: Do to the doer to make him do.”
The Eloquent Peasant
Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1650 BCE)
“Mazda Ahura, the Absolute Ruler, has specified that good fortune is for him who makes others happy.”
Zoroaster
Avesta, Yasna 43.1 (c. 1500–1000 BCE)
“That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary. Go forth and study.”
Hillel the Elder
Shabbat 31a, Talmud (c. 100 BCE - 100 CE)
“What his own soul has felt as bitter pain, From making others feel should man abstain.”
Valluvar
Kural 316 (c. 100 BCE - 100 CE)
“No one says to himself, ‘I myself have done or might have done this very thing which I am angry with another for doing’ … Let us put ourselves in the place of him with whom we are angry: at present. An over-weening conceit of our own importance makes us prone to anger, and we are quite willing to do to others what we cannot endure should be done to ourselves”
Seneca
On Anger, 3.12 (c. 41–49 CE)
“All the members of human society stand in need of each other’s assistance and are likewise exposed to mutual injuries. Where the necessary assistance is reciprocally afforded from love, from gratitude, from friendship, and esteem, the society flourishes and is happy. All the different members of it are bound together by the agreeable bands of love and affection, and are, as it were, drawn to one common Centre of mutual good offices.”
Adam Smith
The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759 CE)
“Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
Chief Seattle
Speech to Washington Territory - 1854 CE
“Accordingly, the individual producer receives back from society — exactly what he gives to it. What he has given to it is his individual quantum of labor. He receives a certificate from society that he has furnished such-and-such an amount of labor (after deducting his labor for the common funds); and with this certificate, he draws from the social stock of means of consumption as much as the same amount of labor cost. The same amount of labor which he has given to society in one form, he receives back in another.”
Karl Marx
Critique of the Gotha Programme (1875 CE)

Reciprocity in Nature.

This video demonstrates how even primates instinctively recognize fairness and reciprocity, reflecting these principles in nature.

Our Shared Ancestry.

This video reveals our deep connection to one another through shared ancestry. It beautifully illustrates how reciprocity and unity are woven into our humanity.

"No matter the languages we speak or the colours of our skin, we share ancestors who planted rice on the banks of the Yangtze, who first domesticated horses on the steps of the Ukraine, who hunted giant sloths in the forests of North and South America, and who labored to build the Great Pyramid of Khufu."

Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans (2003)

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