The High Council

The founding council rests on 73 registered sources. 51 are in the public domain and 2 are openly licensed; passages from these make up the figures’ libraries. 20 are in copyright: we cite them for what scholars have established and copy none of their text. How the figures are made explains how the sources are used.

If you hold rights in something listed here and believe we have used it wrongly, or you see an error in an attribution, write to thehighcouncil.support@gmail.com and we will put it right.

Jesus

5 sources; 383 passages in Jesus’s library. About Jesus

The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Anonymous early Christian authors traditionally named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John · Mark c. 66–70 CE; Matthew and Luke c. 80–90 CE; John c. 90–110 CE
World English Bible, Project Gutenberg eBook #8294 · translation: World English Bible (Rainbow Missions and volunteers, 2000 and later)
Public domainIn the libraryEarly testimony. The World English Bible is dedicated to the public domain; Project Gutenberg edition.
Sayings of Jesus outside the Gospels: Acts, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Revelation
Luke (Acts); Paul (Corinthians); John of Patmos (Revelation) · c. 50–95 CE
World English Bible, Project Gutenberg eBook #8294 · translation: World English Bible (Rainbow Missions and volunteers, 2000 and later)
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution uncertainEarly testimony. The World English Bible is dedicated to the public domain; Project Gutenberg edition.
The Oxyrhynchus Sayings of Jesus
Unknown; Greek fragments later identified with the Gospel of Thomas · Papyri c. 200–250 CE; sayings collection possibly 1st–2nd century
The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1924), via English Wikisource · translation: M. R. James
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. Published 1924 (public domain in the US as a pre-1929 publication); translator died 1936. Wikisource public domain edition.
The Historical Figure of Jesus
E. P. Sanders · 1993
Allen Lane / Penguin
Cited, not copiedNot in the libraryScholarship. Copyrighted scholarship; cited for interpretation only.
What Did Jesus Look Like?
Joan E. Taylor · 2018
Bloomsbury T&T Clark
Cited, not copiedNot in the libraryScholarship. Copyrighted scholarship; cited for interpretation only.

The Buddha

3 sources; 9,948 passages in the Buddha’s library. About the Buddha

The early discourses: Dīgha, Majjhima, Saṃyutta and Aṅguttara Nikāyas, with the Dhammapada, Udāna, Itivuttaka and Sutta Nipāta
Pali Canon (Sutta Pitaka), oral tradition · Composed from the 5th century BCE; written down c. 1st century BCE
SuttaCentral Bilara data, branch 'published', commit f5ce35f517ae7c1cd9994c33f62c99860c200064 (complete collections) · translation: Bhikkhu Sujato, 2018 and later
Open licenceIn the libraryEarly testimony. SuttaCentral dedicates these translations to the public domain under CC0 1.0.
The Dhammapada
Pali Canon (Khuddaka Nikaya) · c. 3rd century BCE compilation of older verses
Project Gutenberg eBook #2017 · translation: F. Max Müller, 1881 (Sacred Books of the East vol. 10)
Public domainIn the libraryEarly testimony. Müller translation published 1881; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
The Foundations of Buddhism
Rupert Gethin · 1998
Oxford University Press
Cited, not copiedNot in the libraryScholarship. Copyrighted scholarship; cited for interpretation only.

Mother Teresa

8 sources; Mother Teresa’s library is 32 research notes we wrote from these sources, copying none of their text. About Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light — The Private Writings of the 'Saint of Calcutta'
Mother Teresa; edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C. · Letters 1928–1997; published 2007
Doubleday, 2007
Cited, not copiedTheir own words. In copyright (Mother Teresa Center); not copied. Licensing is required before any text is added to the corpus.
Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1979
Mother Teresa · 1979
NobelPrize.org
Cited, not copiedTheir own words. © The Nobel Foundation; cited bibliographically, not copied.
Something Beautiful for God
Malcolm Muggeridge · 1971
Collins
Cited, not copiedEarly testimony. Copyrighted; cited bibliographically.
Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography
Kathryn Spink · 1997
HarperSanFrancisco
Cited, not copiedScholarship. Copyrighted; cited for interpretation only.
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
Christopher Hitchens · 1995
Verso
Cited, not copiedScholarship. Copyrighted; cited as a record of criticism.
Calcutta perspective: Mother Teresa's care for the dying
Robin Fox · 17 September 1994
The Lancet 344(8925):807–808
Cited, not copiedScholarship. Copyrighted journal article; cited only.
Research notes for the Mother Teresa persona
The High Council project · 2026
Open licenceReference. Original summaries written by the project from the cited sources; they contain no copied text and no quotations.
Photographs, film and audio recordings of Mother Teresa, 1950–1997

Confucius

7 sources; 667 passages in Confucius’s library. About Confucius

The Analects of Confucius (from the Chinese Classics)
Disciples of Confucius (compiled over the fifth to third centuries BCE) · c. 475–221 BCE compilation
Project Gutenberg eBook #3330 · translation: James Legge, 1861 (Chinese Classics vol. 1)
Public domainIn the libraryEarly testimony. Ancient text; Legge translation published 1861; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
The Book of Filial Duty (Xiaojing / Hsiao Ching)
Attributed to the school of Zengzi; presents Confucius instructing Zengzi · c. 4th–3rd century BCE
Wisdom of the East series, John Murray, London, 1908; Project Gutenberg eBook #75878 · translation: Ivan Chên, 1908
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. Ancient text; translation published 1908; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong)
Traditionally attributed to Zisi (Kong Ji), grandson of Confucius · c. 5th–3rd century BCE
The Chinese Classics, vol. 1 (1861, rev. 1893), via English Wikisource · translation: James Legge
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. Ancient text; Legge translation published 1861–1893; Wikisource public domain edition. Chinese text lines are excluded.
The Great Learning (Daxue)
Traditionally: a text of Confucius with commentary by Zengzi · c. 5th–3rd century BCE
The Chinese Classics, vol. 1 (1861, rev. 1893), via English Wikisource · translation: James Legge
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. Ancient text; Legge translation published 1861–1893; Wikisource public domain edition. Chinese text lines are excluded.

Moses

3 sources; 511 passages in Moses’s library. About Moses

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
Ancient Israelite authors and editors (traditionally attributed to Moses) · Composed and edited c. 10th–5th centuries BCE from earlier traditions
World English Bible, Project Gutenberg eBook #8294 · translation: World English Bible
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. The World English Bible is dedicated to the public domain; Project Gutenberg edition.
Psalm 90, 'A Prayer by Moses, the man of God'
Attributed by its superscription to Moses · Uncertain; collected in the Psalter during or after the Babylonian exile
World English Bible, Project Gutenberg eBook #8294 · translation: World English Bible
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. The World English Bible is dedicated to the public domain; Project Gutenberg edition.
Moses
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors · Revised 2020s
Encyclopaedia Britannica online
Cited, not copiedNot in the libraryReference. Copyrighted reference work; cited for the scholarly consensus on historicity only.

Gandhi

13 sources; 2,438 passages in Gandhi’s library. About Gandhi

Indian Home Rule (Hind Swaraj)
M. K. Gandhi · Written 1909; English edition 1910; this printing fifth edition (Ganesh & Co., Madras)
Project Gutenberg eBook #40461 · translation: Gandhi's own English translation of his Gujarati original
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Published 1910s; public domain in the US; Gandhi's works entered the public domain in India in 2009.
Freedom's Battle: Being a Comprehensive Collection of Writings and Speeches on the Present Situation
M. K. Gandhi · 1922 (second edition); articles 1919–1922
Project Gutenberg eBook #10366
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Published 1922; public domain in the US; Gandhi's works public domain in India since 2009. The editor's introduction is by C. Rajagopalachari (d. 1972) and is excluded from quotation use.
The Story of My Experiments with Truth
M. K. Gandhi · Serialized 1925–1929; volumes 1927 and 1929
English Wikisource transcription of the 1927/1929 Navajivan volumes · translation: Mahadev Desai; Part V chapters XXIX–XLIII translated by Pyarelal Nayyar. The imported Wikisource text currently ends at Volume 2, Part IV, chapter XVIII.
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. The 1927/1929 editions are marked PD-US on Wikisource. Do not generalize this to all countries: Pyarelal Nayyar died in 1982. His Part V chapters XXIX–XLIII are absent from this imported corpus; the retained translation is by Mahadev Desai (d. 1942).
The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Volume II (Part IV ch. XIX to Part V, Farewell)
M. K. Gandhi · Serialised in Navajivan and Young India 1925–1929; this volume 1929
First edition, Navajivan Press, Ahmedabad, 1929; Internet Archive scan storyofmyexperim0002mkga (OCR text) · translation: Mahadev Desai and Pyarelal Nair
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Gandhi died in 1948 (public domain in India since 2009); first published 1929, public domain in the United States since 1 January 2025 (95-year term).

Rumi

5 sources; 1,063 passages in Rumi’s library. About Rumi

The Mesnevi, Book I (Redhouse)
Jalal al-Din Rumi; Shams al-Din Ahmad Aflaki · Masnavi c. 1258–1273; Aflaki's Manaqib c. 1318–1353
Trübner, London 1881; Project Gutenberg eBook #61724 · translation: Sir James W. Redhouse, 1881
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Published 1881; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Masnavi i Ma'navi: The Spiritual Couplets, Books I–VI (abridged)
Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī · Composed c. 1258–1273
Second edition, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, London, 1898, via English Wikisource · translation: Edward Henry Whinfield (abridged translation of all six books)
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Medieval text; Whinfield's translation published 1887–1898 and he died in 1922; Wikisource public domain edition.
The Persian Mystics: Jalalu'd-din Rumi (Davis selections)
F. Hadland Davis (editor), with translations by R. A. Nicholson (Divan, 1898) and E. H. Whinfield (Masnavi, 1887) · 1907
Wisdom of the East series, John Murray; Project Gutenberg eBook #45159 · translation: Reynold A. Nicholson; E. H. Whinfield
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Published 1907; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
The Acts of the Adepts (Manāqib al-ʿĀrifīn), selected anecdotes
Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad Aflākī · Compiled c. 1318–1353
Translated selections in Redhouse, The Mesnevi (1881); Project Gutenberg eBook #61724 · translation: James W. Redhouse
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution contestedEarly testimony. Published 1881; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Rumi: Past and Present, East and West
Franklin D. Lewis · 2000; revised 2008
Oneworld
Cited, not copiedNot in the libraryScholarship. Copyrighted scholarship; cited for interpretation only.

Joan of Arc

2 sources; 511 passages in Joan of Arc’s library. About Joan of Arc

Jeanne d'Arc, Maid of Orleans: the trial and rehabilitation records
T. Douglas Murray (editor); trial notaries of 1431 and witnesses of 1450–1456 · Documents 1429–1456; edition 1902
William Heinemann, London 1902; Project Gutenberg eBook #57389 · translation: English translation edited by T. Douglas Murray from Quicherat's edition of the trial records
Public domainIn the libraryTheir own words. Published 1902; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Joan of Arc: Her Story
Régine Pernoud and Marie-Véronique Clin · 1986; English 1998
St. Martin's Press
Cited, not copiedNot in the libraryScholarship. Copyrighted scholarship; cited for interpretation only.

Socrates

27 sources; 2,644 passages in Socrates’s library. About Socrates

Apology
Plato · c. 399–390 BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1656 (Jowett translation, 3rd ed. text) · translation: Benjamin Jowett, 1871; revised 1892
Public domainIn the libraryEarly testimony. Ancient text; Jowett translation published before 1900; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Crito
Plato · c. 399–390 BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1657 · translation: Benjamin Jowett
Public domainIn the libraryEarly testimony. Ancient text; Jowett translation pre-1900; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Phaedo
Plato · c. 380s BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1658 · translation: Benjamin Jowett
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution uncertainEarly testimony. Ancient text; Jowett translation pre-1900; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Symposium
Plato · c. 385–370 BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1600 · translation: Benjamin Jowett
Public domainIn the libraryEarly testimony. Ancient text; Jowett translation pre-1900; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Meno
Plato · c. 385 BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1643 · translation: Benjamin Jowett
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution uncertainEarly testimony. Ancient text; Jowett translation pre-1900; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
Theaetetus
Plato · c. 369 BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1726 · translation: Benjamin Jowett
Public domainIn the libraryAttribution uncertainEarly testimony. Ancient text; Jowett translation pre-1900; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.
The Memorabilia (Recollections of Socrates)
Xenophon · c. 371 BCE
Project Gutenberg eBook #1177 · translation: Henry Graham Dakyns, 1890–1897
Public domainEarly testimony. Ancient text; Dakyns translation published 1890s; Project Gutenberg US public domain edition.