Wizard's Rule

In Terry Goodkind's "The Sword of Truth" fantasy fiction series, a new Wizard's Rule is introduced in each new novel. Following are the rules stated thus far:

Wizard's First Rule

"People are stupid. [...] They will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true."

"Wizard's First Rule": Chapter 36, Page #397, US Hard Cover (revealed by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander).

*Explanation by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander: "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool."

Wizard's Second Rule

"The greatest harm can result from the best intentions."

"Stone of Tears": Chapter 63, Page #634, US Hard Cover (revealed by Nathan Rahl).

*Explanation: "It sounds a paradox, but kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, forethought, and understanding the First Rule. Even then, that is not always enough. […] Violation can cause anything from discomfort, to disaster, to death.”

Wizard's Third Rule

"Passion rules reason."

"Blood of the Fold": Chapter 43, Page #360, US Hard Cover (revealed by Kolo's Journal).

*Explanation: Letting your emotions control your reason may cause trouble for yourself and those around you.

Wizard's Fourth Rule

"There is magic in sincere forgiveness, the magic to heal. In forgiveness you grant, but more so, in forgiveness you receive."

"Temple of the Winds": Chapter 41, Page #318, US Hard Cover (revealed by Shota).

*Explanation: Forgiving and being forgiven are powerful elements of healing for the soul. Forgiving others grants by the giving of forgiveness but more so one receives self healing by the necessity of letting go of bitterness through forgiveness of other.

It is noted by Shota, in the Temple of the Winds, that it is imperative that you remember that the rule speaks of sincere forgiveness, not just spoken forgiveness.

Wizard's Fifth Rule

"Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie."

"Soul of the Fire": Chapter 28, Page #205, US Hard Cover (revealed by Kolo's Journal).

*Explanation: People will lie to deceive you from what they truly mean to do. Watching the actions they take will prove their true intentions.

Wizard's Sixth Rule

"Let reason be your only sovereign."

"Faith of the Fallen": Chapter 2, Page #21 US Paper Back (revealed by Richard Rahl) and Chapter 41, Page #319, US Hard Cover (revealed by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander).

*Explanation by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander: "The Sixth Rule is the hub upon which all rules turn. It is not only the most important rule, but the simplest. Nonetheless, it is the one most often ignored and violated, and by far the most despised. It must be wielded in spite of the ceaseless, howling protests of the wicked. Misery, iniquity, and utter destruction lurk in the shadows outside its full light, where half-truths snare the faithful disciples, the deeply feeling believers, the selfless followers. Faith and feelings are the warm marrow of evil. Unlike reason, faith and feelings provide no boundary to limit any delusion, any whim. They are a virulent poison, giving the numbing illusion of moral sanction to every depravity ever hatched. Faith and feelings are the darkness to reason’s light. Reason is the very substance of truth itself. The glory that is life is wholly embraced through reason, through this rule. In rejecting it, in rejecting reason, one embraces death."

*Explanation by Richard Rahl: "The only sovereign I can allow to rule me is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists; what is, is. From this irreducible bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. This is the foundation from which life is embraced. Reason is a choice. Wishes and whims are not facts, nor are they a means to discovering them. Reason is our only way of grasping reality – it’s our basic tool of survival. We are free to evade the effort of thinking, to reject reason, but we are not free to avoid the penalty of the abyss we refuse to see."

Wizard's Seventh Rule

"Life is the future, not the past."

"The Pillars of Creation": Chapter 60, Page #549, US Hard Cover (revealed by Richard Rahl).

*Explanation by Richard Rahl: "The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices."

Wizard's Eighth Rule

"Deserve victory." (Translated from "Talga Vassternich" in High D'Haran, the ancient language of D'Hara, which is a literary fictional language).

"Naked Empire": Chapter 61, Page #626, US Hard Cover (revealed to Richard Rahl on the statue of Kaja-Rang).

*Explanation: Be justified in your convictions. Be completely committed. Earn what you want and need rather than waiting for others to give you what you desire.

Wizard's Ninth Rule

"A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole."

"Chainfire": Chapter 48, Page #489, US Hard Cover (revealed by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander).

*Explanation by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander: "To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy--to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions. In reality, contradictions cannot exist. To believe in them you must abandon the most important thing you possess: your rational mind. The wager for such a bargain is your life. In such an exchange, you always lose what you have at stake."

Wizard's Tenth Rule

"Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self."

"Phantom": Chapter 12, Page #134, US Soft Cover (revealed by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander).

*Explanation by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander: "People who for whatever reason don't want to see the truth can be acutely hostile to it and shrill in their denunciation of it. They frequently turn their venomous antagonism on whoever dares to point out that truth ... To those seeking the truth, it's a matter of simple, rational, self interest to always keep reality in view. Truth is rooted in reality, after all, not the imagination."

The Wizard's Rule Unwritten

"Confessor": Chapter 65, Page #592, US Hardcover, First Edition (revealed by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander).

*Explanation by Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander: "The rule of all rules. The rule unwritten. The rule unspoken since the dawn of history... But Barracus wanted you to know that it's the secret to using a war wizard's power. The only way to express it, to make sure that you would grasp what he was intending to tell you, was to give you a book unwritten to signify the rule unwritten."

External links

* [http://www.terrygoodkind.com Official Terry Goodkind website]
* [http://www.terrygoodkind.net Unofficial Terry Goodkind website] (endorsed by Terry Goodkind)
* [http://sot.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Welcome to the Sword of Truth Wiki] , including characters, places, items, etc.