Golden rule

There are many golden or fundamental rules in all sorts of endeavours that should never be broken, or so the saying goes, and this general meaning of a multiplicity of 'golden' rules makes its first appearance in English in the early 1600s. The origin of the first golden rule, however, is thought to be the fundamental rule or ethic of reciprocity. And in this regard, Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7.12 are often cited as the first citations of this, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you." This fundamental rule or ethic of reciprocity, however, is far older than the New Testament. Expressions of it can be found in ancient Babylonian, Egyptian, Hindu and Chinese cultures, among many others. George Bernard Shaw adopted a cynical view of so-called golden rules when he wrote, “The golden rule is that there is no golden rule.”