"It is not possible to achieve great progress by violence. Indeed, it is by kindness and gentleness that progress is achieved."

"I have had banyan trees planted on the roads to give shade to man and beast; I have planted mango groves, and I have had wells dug and rest-houses built at intervals along the roads."

"And whatever efforts I am making are made in order that I may discharge the debt which I owe to all living beings, that I may make them happy in this world, and that they may attain heaven in the next…"

"I have had this Dhamma edict written so that my sons and grandsons and great-grandsons may follow it and live according to it."

"Everywhere in the dominions of King Priyadarsin, Beloved of the Gods, and likewise in the borderlands such as Chola, Pandya, Satiyaputra, Keralaputra, as far as Tamraparni, and even in the kingdom of …"