‘Venerable Nāgasena, that one quality of the child at the breast you say he ought to take, which is it?’

‘Just, O king, as the child at the breast sticks to its own advantage, and if it wants milk, cries for it; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, adhere to his own good, and in everything—in teaching, in asking and answering questions, in the conduct of life, in the habit of solitude, in association with his teachers, in the cultivation of the friendship of the good—should he act with knowledge of the Truth. This, O king, is the quality of the child at the breast he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the Dīgha Nikāya, in the Suttanta of the Great Decease:

“Be zealous, rather, I beseech you, Ānanda, in your own behalf. Devote yourselves to your own good. Be earnest, all aglow, intent on your own good!”’