Wizard's First Rule
"People Are Stupid."
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, for better or for worse."
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, not for your body, but your soul. Forgiving others is healthy for you,
but being forgiven is even more powerful.
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
"The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason."
Faith of the Fallen: Chapter 2 (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,[1] 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."
Wizard's Eleventh Rule:
- “You can destroy those who speak the truth, but you cannot destroy the truth itself.”
- ―The Omen Machine: Chapter 70, page 446
While Zedd does confirm that this statement by the Omen Machine is a Wizard's Rule, he does not say which number it is given.
Wizard's Primordial Rule
- “The rule of all rules. The rule unwritten. The rule unspoken since the dawn of history.”
- ―Confessor: Chapter 58, page 548
- “Confessor
power. First brought into existence in Magda Searus. The woman who had
been married to Baraccus. But she had been married to Baraccus back
during the great war, long before she became a Confessor. . . .
- 'Dear spirits,' Richard whispered to himself, icy realization flashing through his veins.”
- ―Confessor: Chapter 59, page 561
- “Seek the truth not through others, but through yourself.”
- ―Interpreted
The final rule cannot directly be quoted, but using the final book of the series, "
Confessor",
it can be understood. In Confessor, Richard goes through great struggle
to obtain a book left for him by Baraccus, a great wizard from the
past. Richard believes this book entitled
Secrets to a War Wizard's Power
will be a means for him to finally understand how to use his gift and
therefore in essence be the solution to major problems. Once he obtains
the book however, its pages are blank and his grandfather Zedd informs
him that Baraccus left it blank to illustrate the meaning of the rule
unwritten.
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