Ali ibn Abi Talib Quotations | Page 2

Surely silence can sometimes be the most eloquent reply.

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

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

The outcome of fear is disappointment and shyness is frustration.

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

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

Courtesy costs nothing, but buys everything.

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

Many a spoken word is more piercing than an attack.

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

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

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

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

Stubbornness destroys good advice.

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

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

The best revenge is to improve yourself.

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 ... Do not ever say, 'I have been given authority' or 'My command should be obeyed.' Because it corrupts the heart, consumes one's faith, and invites calamities.

Loving one another is half of wisdom.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others.

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

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

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

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

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

The word of God is the medicine of the heart.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.