At the entrance of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, written in stone blocks one did not find dogmas, but brief injunctions—directions to oneself.
The Abrahamic traditions offered ten commandments, tied to fear and submission.
For the ancient Greeks, god was not a jealous lawgiver but the harmony of the natural cosmos—the measure between chaos and order thus  the Greek world instead gave 147 Maxims,  signs of wisdom for human life.
Simple yet profound words, not promising a paradise, but guiding toward a life worthy of oneself.
Not terror of hell, but the light of measure.
Thus the Maxims remain immortal, not as chains, but as paths to an ethical life.

1. Follow the divine - live in harmony with the cosmos.
2. Obey the law - without it man turns beast.
3. Revere the gods - honor the cosmic order.
4. Honor your parents - to forget them is to forget yourself.
5. Be overcome by justice - let right defeat your ego.
6. Know by learning - apply what you learned.
7. Understand what you hear - do not just listen understand the meaning of what is spoken.
8. Know yourself - to master life, first master yourself.
9. Be minded to marry - in your children, your life continues
10. Know the right moment to act.
11. Think as mortal - mortality teaches measure.
12. As a stranger, be mindful - treat what is foreign with respect.
13. Honor the hearth - it binds the family as one.
14. Rule yourself first - only then may you rule others.
15. Help your friends - a friend is a second self.
16. Master anger - the crown belongs to him who conquers wrath.
17. Practice prudence - in its light, the way is clear.
18. Honor forethought - without it, disaster follows.
19. Do not use oaths - your word must stand on its own.
20. Love friendship -without it, the soul is impoverished.
21. Hold fast to education - riches vanish, but knowledge is forever.
22. Pursue true honor, not empty fame.
23. Be zealous for wisdom - for wisdom guides the soul.
24. Speak well when you see good - uplift what is worthy.
25. Do not rush to blame - weigh before you condemn.
26. Praise virtue - for through it man is exalted.
27. Do justice in deeds - words fade, deeds remain.
28. Show goodwill to friends — kindness is the root of trust.
29. Defend against enemies - vigilance averts misfortune.
30. Practice courtesy - make it a way of life.
31. Shun wickedness - it consumes those who embrace it.
32. Be sociable - man is not made for solitude.
33. Guard what is yours - what is yours is yours to defend.
34. Keep off what is from others — take only what is yours.
35. Listen to all - truth hides everywhere.
36. Be of good speech - honor the word.
37. Show grace to a friend - friendship requires reciprocity.
38. Nothing in excess - measure saves, excess destroys.
39. Be sparing of time - time is life.
40. Look to the future - foresee what is to come.
41. Hate hubris - nemesis follows it.
42. Respect suppliants - honor the weak.
43. Fit yourself to all - adapt, do not be alien everywhere.
44. Educate your sons - children’s education is immortality.
45. Give when you have - abundance calls for generosity.
46. Fear deceit - it kills the deceitful first.
47. Bless everyone - good speech heals.
48. Become a philosopher - seek wisdom.
49. Judge the holy - discern sacred from profane.
50. Having understood, act - knowledge without action is void.
51. Abstain from killing - life is not yours to take.
52. Pray for what is possible - measure desire by reality.
53. Use the wise - seek counsel from the wise.
54. Test character - testing separates false from true.
55. Return what you took - discharge your debt.
56. Despise no one - honor lies in respect.
57. Use skill - employ craft.
58. What you intend, do - purpose without deed is nothing.
59. Honor benefactions - benefactors deserve remembrance.
60. Envy no one - envy is self-inflicted wound.
61. Be watchful in danger - only the alert endure.
62. Praise hope - hope keeps one upright.
63. Hate slander - false words kill truth.
64. Acquire justly - win what you gain honestly.
65. Honor the good -the best deserves remembrance.
66. Know the judge - your conscience is judge.
67. Keep marriages steady - instability breaks the bond.
68. Count fortune - accept luck, both fair and foul.
69. Avoid surety - do not bind yourself rashly.
70. Speak simply - clarity is the mark of wisdom.
71. Keep company with your peers - among equals, trust is firm.
72. Govern your spending - waste is the enemy of plenty.
73. Take pleasure in little - rejoice in what you have.
74. Respect shame - shame begets respect.
75. Fulfill favors - complete promises in deed.
76. Pray for happiness - fortune is empty without it.
77. Love your fate - destiny is yours to bear.
78. While listening, observe - listening without awareness is nothing.
79. Work for possessions - possessions rest on earned toil.
80. Hate strife - contention corrodes.
81. Guard your honor - once lost, it is hard to regain.
82. Hold your tongue - be silent when needed.
83. Ward off hubris - arrogance blinds to truth.
84. Judge justly - unjust judgment destroys.
85. Use money - do not be ruled by it.
86. Judge incorruptibly - keep judgment clean.
87. Accuse in person - if you accuse, do it openly.
88. Speak knowing - speak of what you know.
89. Do not rely on force - violence breeds resistance.
90. Live without needless grief - needless grief consumes the soul.
91. Speak gently - soft words calm strife.
92. Bring things to an end - finish what you start.
93. Be courteous to all - courtesy sows calm.
94. Do not curse your sons - do not wound your children.
95. Lead your wife - not by force but with respect.
96. Do yourself good - take care of yourself.
97. Be approachable - openness breeds trust.
98. Answer in due time - timing gives weight to truth.
99. Labor with honor - work well done is honor kept.
100. Act so as not to repent - no man repents of what is just.
101. When you wrong, apologize - apology is justice spoken.
102. Control your eye - the wandering gaze betrays the mind.
103. Deliberate with time - thought needs time.
104. Having decided, act promptly.
105. Guard friendship - it is a treasure.
106. Be grateful - it turns little into enough.
107. Pursue concord - peace is the seed of prosperity.
108. Keep what is secret unspoken - silence preserves power.
109. Fear the ruling power - beware authority.
110. Hunt what is useful - waste nothing in pursuit.
111. Welcome the opportune time - fortune favors the ready.
112. Dissolve enmities - reconciliation preserves life.
113. Welcome old age - in it, life finds completion.
114. Do not boast of strength - it fades with time.
115. Practice good repute - clarity builds honor.
116. Flee hatred - it devours the soul.
117. Enrich yourself justly - riches without justice bring ruin.
118. Do not abandon your honor - without it, you are nothing.
119. Hate vice - it enslaves the will.
120. Risk with prudence - recklessness is ruin.
121. Do not cease learning - to live is to learn.
122. Do not cease being frugal - excess leads to ruin.
123. Wonder at the divine - marvel the natural order of the cosmos.
124. Love those you nourish - nurture both body and heart.
125. Do not fight the absent - they cannot defend themselves.
126. Respect the elder - age commands respect by right.
127. Teach the younger - what is not taught is lost.
128. Do not trust wealth - it is unstable and brief.
129. Respect yourself - dishonor kills the soul.
130. Do not begin with hubris - it is the seed of evil.
131. Wreath your ancestors - honor them with remembrance.
132. Die for your country - the self is less than the fatherland.
133. Do not be burdened by life - it is a unique gift.
134. Do not laugh at the dead - you will be there too.
135. Join the unfortunate - stand with the unlucky—fate is shared.
136. Give without harm - give in ways that do not wound.
137. Do not grieve over everything - endurance gives strength.
138. Beget from noble stock - continue virtue.
139. Promise to no one lightly - do not scatter promises.
140. Do not wrong the dead - their memory is sacred.
141. Suffer well as mortal - bear with dignity.
142. Do not trust chance - it slips away.
143. As a child, be orderly.
144. As a youth, be self-controlled.
145. In midlife, be just.
146. As an elder, speak wisely and briefly.
147. At the end, depart without sorrow - that is the perfect life.