Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, also commonly refered to as Buddha ‘The Awakened One’. These passages contain the sacred words of the Buddha communicated to his disciples few centuries before the Common Era.
Passage
When I see how the nature of pleasure and pain are mixed, I consider royalty and slavery as the same; a king does not always smile, nor is a slave always in pain.
Since to be a king involves a wider range of command, therefore the pains of a king are great; for a king is like a peg,–he endures trouble for the sake of the world.
A king is unfortunate, if he places his trust in his royalty which is apt to desert and loves crooked turns; and on the other hand, if he does not trust in it, then what can be the happiness of a timid king?
And since after even conquering the whole earth, one city only can serve as a dwelling-place, and even there only one house can be inhabited, is not royalty mere labour for others?
And even in royal clothing one pair of garments is all he needs, and just enough food to keep off hunger; so only one bed, and only one seat; all a king’s other distinctions are only for pride.
And if all these fruits are desired for the sake of satisfaction, I can be satisfied without a kingdom; and if a man is once satisfied in this world, are not all distinctions indistinguishable?
E. B. Cowell, F. Max Muller and J. Takakusu. Buddhist Mahayana Texts. Oxford, the Clarendon Press, 1894.
