Ali ibn abi talib quotes

Greed is permanent slavery

How many lessons there are and how little they are taken

Hide the good you do, and make known the good done to you.

Stubbornness destroys good advice.

There is no greater wealth than wisdom, no greater poverty than ignorance; no greater heritage than culture and no greater support than consultation.

Don't engage your heart in grief over the past or you wont be ready for what is coming.

Silence is the garden of thought.

Safety lies in silence. It is easier to rectify what you miss by silence, than to secure what you lose by speaking.

When proven wrong, the wise man will correct himself and the ignorant will keep arguing.

The disease of the heart is worse than the disease of the body.

True friends are a single soul divided between different bodies.

Awaken your heart to kindness and mercy for the people and love and tenderness for them. Never, never act with them like a predatory beast which seeks to be satiated by devouring them, for the people fall into two categories: they are either your brethren in faith or your kindred in creation.

Often your utterances and expressions of your face leak out the secrets of your hidden thoughts.

The word of God is the medicine of the heart.

Knowledge is of two kinds: that which is absorbed and that which is heard. And that which is heard does not profit if it is not absorbed.

Do not be misled by appearances for these are apt to be deceptive.

He who is greedy is disgraced; he who discloses his hardship will always be humiliated; he who has no control over his tongue will often have to face discomfort.

The highest person is he who is of most use to humankind.

The worst of our faults is our interest in other people's faults.

He who understands humanity seeks solitude

Two things cause people to be destroyed: fear of poverty and seeking superiority through pride.

Whoever wants to be a leader should educate himself before educating others. Before preaching to others he should first practice himself. Whoever educates himself and improves his own morals is superior to the man who tries to teach and train others.

Your souls are precious and can only be equal to the price of Paradise, therefore sell them only at that price

Understanding the knowledge and wisdom of the Qur'an is by far, higher than memorizing.

Hate no one, no matter how much they've wronged you. Live humbly, no matter how wealthy you become. Think positively, no matter how hard life is. Give much, even if you've been given little. Keep in touch with the ones who have forgotten you, and forgive who has wronged you, and do not stop praying for the best for those you love.

Perfecting one's intellect causes one to speak less, and those words spoken will be adorned with wisdom.

Do not be like those on whom advice has no effect and who require punishment to correct themselves.

People's hearts are like wild animals. They attach their selves to those that love and train them.

The best revenge is to improve yourself.

Man comes from a drop of semen and leaves as a piece of dust. He doesn't know when he came and he doesn't know when he's leaving, yet he walks on the earth thinking he knows everything.

The vision of the eye is limited; the vision of the heart transcends all barriers of time and space.

Wealth tends to create enemies, whereas knowledge tends to warm hearts.

Of all the follies the greatest is to love the world.

Courtesy costs nothing, but buys everything.

Always consider your intellect to be lacking; otherwise too much faith in it surely leads to error.

A man's worth depends upon the nobility of his aspirations.

He who guards his secrets retains control in his own hands

If you find that somebody is not grateful for all that you have done for him, then do not get disappointed because often you will find that someone else feels under your obligation though you have done nothing for him and thus your good deeds will be compensated, and Allah will reward you for your goodness.

Contentment is a wealth that is never exhausted

There are three signs of a knowledgeable person: knowledge, forbearance and silence.

How strange and foolish is man. He looses his health in gaining wealth. Then to regain health he wastes his wealth. He ruins is present while worrying about his future - but weeps in the future by recalling his past. He lives as though death shall never come to him - but dies in a way as if he were never born.

Do not feel lonely on the road of righteousness Because of the fewness of the walkers on it.

Allah, the Exalted, gave the angels intellect without desires, He gave the animals desires without intellect, and He gave both to the sons of Adam. So a man whose intellect prevails over his desires is better than the angels, whilst a man whose desire prevails over his intellect is worse than the animals.

Life consists of two days: one for you and one against you, so when it's for you don't be proud or reckless, and when it's against you be patient, for both days are test for you

Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety, after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly.

Vanity prevents improvement

Your Remedy is within you, but you do not sense it. Your Sickness is from you, but you do not perceive it. You Presume you are a small entity, But within you is enfolded the entire universe. You are indeed the evident book, By whose alphabet the hidden becomes the manifest. Therefore, you have no need to look beyond yourself, What you seek is within you, if only you reflect.

Do for this life as if you live forever, do for the afterlife as if you will die tomorrow.

Do not be too hard, lest you be broken; do not be too soft, lest you be squeezed.

A person of riyaa (showing off) has three characteristics : He is lazy when alone, energetic when with others, and increases in his actions when he is praised while decreasing in them when he is criticized.

A man is hid under his tongue.

Never explain yourself to anyone, because the one who likes you would not need it, and the one dislikes you wouldn't believe it.

Beautiful people are not always good, but good people are always beautiful.

Be like a flower that gives its fragrance even to the hand that crushed it.

Whoever desires Paradise, proceeds towards goodness; whoever fears Hell, refrains from the impulses of passions; whoever believes firmly in death, detests wordly life; and whoever recognises the worldly life, the trials and tribulations (of life) become slight for him.

Do not take someone's silence as his pride, perhaps he is busy fighting with his self.

The best deed of a great man is to forgive and forget.

Many a spoken word is more piercing than an attack.

The weakest man is the one who is able to correct his moral defects, but doesn't take action.

Whoever educates himself and improves his own morals & character is superior to the man who tries to teach & train others.

O World, try to deceive someone else. Are you trying to tempt me or attract me? No way! I divorce you irrevocably. Your time is short and you are insignificant. Alas! The provision is little, the journey is long and the way is lonely.

Beware of the flight of Blessings, For nothing that runs away is returned.

Like your body your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.

Oh writer! An Angel watches over all you write. Make your writing meaningful for it will eventually return to you and you will be questioned about what you wrote.

The most helpless person is the one who is helpless in reforming himself.

A hopeless man sees difficulties in every chance, but a hopeful person sees chances in every difficulty.

Do not share the knowledge with which you have been blessed with everyone in general, as you do with some people in particular; and know that there are some men in whom Allah, may He he glorified, has placed hidden secrets, which they are forbidden to reveal.

There is no rest for the person who has envy, and there is no love for the person who has bad manners.

Blessed is he whose own faults keep him from seeing the faults of others.

The one who has no control over his desires has no control over his mind.

Be afraid of a dignified man when he is hungry and a wicked man when his belly is full.

Lead such a life, that, when you die, the people may mourn you, and while you are alive they long for your company.

The best companion and helper is admirable morals.

Authority, power, and wealth do not change a man; they only reveal him

Loving one another is half of wisdom.

Never make a decision in anger and never make a promise in happiness.

I will be patient till even patience tires of my patience.

Silence is the best reply to a fool.

A moment of patience in a moment of anger prevents a thousand moments of regret.

You should desire for others what you desire for yourself, and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress, just as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others just as you would like good to be done to you. Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others. Accept that treatment from others which you would like others to accept from you. Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you.

There is no nobility with bad manners.

Nothing hurts a good soul and kind heart more than to live amongst people who can't understand it.

Riches without faith are the greatest poverty.

The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body. If the head is chopped off, the body becomes useless. Then he raised his voice and said: Certainly, the one who has no patience has no iman, and patience is like a riding-beast that nevers gets tired

The world is darkness; knowledge is light; but knowledge without truth is a mere shadow.

Either you are just or unjust. If you are just, then you will not keep aloof from the people, but will listen to them and meet their requirements. But if you are unjust, the people themselves will keep away from you.

Fear only the will of God and you will have no cause to fear anyone else.

No wealth like education and no poverty like ignorance

It is better to listen to a wise enemy than to seek counsel from a foolish friend.

Surely silence can sometimes be the most eloquent reply.

A calamity does not descend except due to a sin and it is not lifted except with repentance.

People are of two types, they are either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity.

Know thyself, and thou shalt know God.

There is no knowledge and science like pondering and thought; and there is no prosperity and advancement like knowledge and science.

The sin which makes you sad and repentant is more liked by Allah than the good deed which turns you arrogant.

If you are greeted then return the greetings more warmly. If you are favored, then repay the obligation manifold; but he who takes the initiative will always excel in merit.

Fear the sins that you commit in secret, because the Witness of those sins is the Judge Himself!

Not every man with a heart is understanding, nor every man with an ear a listener, and nor every man with eyes able to see.

The nourishment of body is food, while the nourishment of the soul is feeding others.

The wiser a man is, the less talkative will he be.

I wonder at a man who loses hope of salvation when the door of repentance is open for him.

Bear sorrows and calamities patiently, otherwise you will never be happy.

To fight against one's desires is the greatest of all fights.

Do not raise your children the way your parents raised you; they were born for a different time.

I was not created to be occupied by eating delicious foods like tied up cattle.

In this world, man is a target of death, an easy prey to calamities, here every morsel and every draught is liable to choke one, here one never receives a favour until he loses another instead, here every additional day in one's life is a day reduced from the total span of his existence, when death is the natural outcome of life, how can we expect immortality.

Happiness comes towards those which believe in him

There is no capital more useful than intellect and wisdom, and there is no indigence more injurious than ignorance and unawareness.

Greed takes a person to the watering place but gets him back without letting him drink. It undertakes responsibility but does not fulfill it. Often the drinker gets choked before quenching his thirst. The greater the worth of a thing yearned for, the greater is the grief for its loss. Desires blind the eyes of understanding. The destined share would reach him who does not approach it.

Put aside your pride, Set down your arrogance, And remember your grave.

A wise man first thinks and then speaks and a fool speaks first and then thinks.

Do not hate what you do not know, for the greater part of knowledge consists of what you do not know.

A girl is a good deed and a boy is a bounty. Good deeds are rewarded while people are held accountable for bounties.

The days of life pass away like clouds, so do good while you are alive.

Body is purified by water. Ego by tears. Intellect is purified by knowledge. And soul is purified with love.

Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others.

Patience is of two kinds: patience over what pains you, and patience against what you covet.

Everyone who is taken by death asks for more time, while everyone who still has time makes excuses for procrastination.

A True friend is one who sees a fault, gives you advice and who defends you in your absence.

Had there not been five bad qualities, all the people would have been righteous. Contentment with ignorance; love for worldly life; miserliness inspite of much wealth; ostentation in (good) deeds; and pride in their own intelligence.

A friend cannot be considered a friend until he is tested in three occasions: in timeof need, behind your back, and after your death.

Asceticism is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you.

He who trusts the world, the world betrays him.

Know you that Allah has made Islam the most sublime path for attainment of His supreme pleasure and the highest standards of his worship and obedience. He has favoured it with noble precepts, exalted principles, undoubtable arguments, unchallengeable supremacy and undeniable wisdom. It is up to you to maintain the eminence and dignity granted to it by the Lord, to follow it sincerely, to do justice to its articles of faith and belief, to obey implicitly its tenets and orders and to give it the proper place in your lives.

Do not use the sharpness of your speech on your mother who taught you how to speak.