When Ignorance Becomes Your Enemy — The Dhammapada

Life feels endless when you do not understand how life works. The night is long for the awake person. The mile is long for the tired walker. Life is long for the fool who does not know the true law.

If a traveler meets no one better or equal, he should walk alone. You cannot really travel with a fool. The fool says "my sons, my wealth" and suffers. He does not even own himself, so how can he own sons or wealth? A fool who admits he is foolish has started to wake up. A fool who thinks he is wise is the worse kind of fool.

A fool can sit with a wise teacher for life and learn nothing, like a spoon that cannot taste soup. A smart person needs only one minute with a wise teacher and catches the truth like the tongue tastes soup. Fools hurt themselves with bad deeds that ripen into grief. Evil may taste sweet at first, like honey, but grief comes when it matures. Some fools want rank, praise, and control over others. The chapter ends with two roads: one toward wealth, one toward peace. The student who sees this stops chasing honor and turns toward real freedom.