Quotes from Ali bin Abu-Talib

The mind of a wise man is the safest custody of secrets; cheerfulness is the key to friendship; patience and forbearance will conceal many defects.

Contentment is the capital which will never diminish.

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

Only He who has the power to punish can pardon.

Live amongst people in such a manner that if you die they weep over you and if you are alive they crave for your company.

A poor man is like a foreigner in his own country.

An alert and learned man will take advice from any event.

Generosity is to help a deserving person without his request, and if you help him after his request, then it is either out of self-respect or to avoid rebuke.

A virtuous person is better then virtue and a vicious person is worse than vice.

Avarice is disgrace; cowardice is a defect; poverty often disables an intelligent man from arguing his case; a poor man is a stranger in his own town; misfortune and helplessness are calamities; patience is a kind of bravery; to sever attachments with the wicked world is the greatest wealth; piety is the best weapon of defence.

How honorable is knowledge, that the one who does not have it, says he does. How dishonorable is ignorance, that the one who has it says he does not.

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

When wisdom reaches the acme of perfection it, will suppress the vicious instincts and injurious desires.

If matters get mixed up then scrutinize the cause and you will know what the effects will be.

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.

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

If you cannot get things as much as you desire than be contented with what you have.

Do not feel ashamed if the amount of charity is small because to refuse the needy is an act of greater shame.

Not to have a thing is less humiliating than to beg it.

People in this world are like travelers whose journey is going on though they are asleep. ( Life's journey is going on though men may not feel it ).

Tongue is a beast, if it is let loose, it devours.

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

So long as fortune is favouring you, your defects will remain covered.

Hearts of people are like wild beasts. They attach themselves to those who love and train them.