John Wortabet

“ An old man cries out, "O that youth would return for a day, that I might relate to it what the roll of years has done to me!"
The hair often becomes white, not from the succession of years, but from a succession of evils.
Life is a parting shadow and youth a departing guest.
When a young man says he is hungry, believe him; but when he says he is tired, do not believe him. ”

“ Envy is a disease for which there is no cure.
Envy is a disease which does more harm to the envious than to the envied.
All enmity may be overcome except that which comes from envy.
There can be no peace in the heart of an envious man.
A man cannot be happy if he be malicious, envious, or ill-tempered.
Keep your affairs to yourself, for every favoured man is an object of envy.
Envy may be cured only by a sure knowledge that it is a cause of much pain to you and no evil to him whom you envy—so you must shun it if you would not be an enemy to yourself and a friend to your enemy. ”

“ When I see all paths leading men unto death, and no paths leading from death unto us—no traveller there ever returning—not one of ages past ever remaining—I see that I also shall assuredly go where they have gone.
If death be surely inevitable, be not a fool and die a coward's death.
Death is a cup which every man must drink, and the grave a door which every man must enter. ”

“ To bewail grief, except to God, is an humiliation.
Lamentation is the weapon of the weak.
A good man sees his own faults and is blind to the faults of others.
Censure your friend by kindness, and return the evil which he may have done to you by acts of favour.
To blame a friend is better than to lose him.
No man is free from faults.
If you count your friend's faults you will have no friend left.
An absent man has his apology with him.
He who compels you to blame him has made up his mind to forsake you.
Open blame is better than secret malice. ”

“ To guard his tongue is one of the best traits in a man's character.
Man is saved from much evil if he guard his tongue.
The tongue is a lion which must be chained, and a sharp sword which must be sheathed.
Nothing on earth is so deserving of a long imprisonment as the tongue.
Beware of saying anything of which you may be ashamed.
It is better to regret a thing which you did not say than a thing which you did say.
A slip of the foot is safer than a slip of the tongue. A false step may break a bone which can be set, but a slip of the tongue cannot be undone. ”

“ Frugality saves a man from poverty.
Little with economy is better than much with waste.
Poverty with freedom from debt is great wealth.
If you count beforehand you will thrive.
The sea is made up of drops and the mountain of grains.
My son, take a middle course between stinginess and extravagance, parsimony and prodigality.
Extravagance dissipates great riches, and economy increases them when they are small.
Extravagance ever leads to misery and ruin.
Extravagance does as much harm to life as it adds to the pleasures of living. ”

“ Be ever truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to heaven.
Veracity brings peace to the heart.
No man's religion can be right until his heart become right, nor can his heart become right until his tongue is right.
Keep to the truth though it may harm thee, and keep away from falsehood though it may profit thee.
A man can be perfect only when he speaks the truth and acts according to the truth.
Proverbs. Truth is the sword of God, which always cleaves when it smites.
Truth is armed with horns.
By truth man is saved from evil. ”

“ He who seeks learning without study will attain his end when the raven becomes grey with age.
To every noble horse a stumble, and to every learned man an error.
Knowledge does not save from error, nor wealth from trouble. ”

“ Sorrow for a child is a burning fire in the heart.
He who is not tender to his child shall find no tenderness in God to him.
Your children are not too many for Death, nor is your money too much for a rapacious governor. ”

“ A man is truly religious when he is truly good.
A good character is a great boon.
Kind words are the bonds of love.
A kind word is like an act of charity.
If you cannot help men with money, help them with a cheerful face and a kindly bearing.
No man is entitled to consideration unless he has these three things, or at least one of them: the fear of God to restrain him from evil, forbearance with wicked men, and a good nature towards all.
There are cases where not kindness but severity is necessary.
Kindness increases the love of friends, and diminishes the hatred of enemies. ”

“ The changes of fortune show what a man is made of.
There is no joy which is not followed by sorrow.
When Fortune brings a great good, she follows it by a great evil.
Fortune gives lavishly, and then turns round and takes away.
When a man has attained his highest hope, let him expect that its downfall is near by. ”

“ Be patient—every cloud dissipates, and every evil which does not continue is a small thing.
He who receives the strokes is not like him who counts them.
CONTENTMENT
Contentment is to refrain from coveting what others have.
Contentment is a treasure which is inexhaustible.
The most thankful of men is he who is contented.
He who seeks riches must seek them in contentment.
Give freely, and be content with little.
A contented man is happy in life.
Life is a vanishing space of time, and he alone vanquishes its changing fortunes who lives in contentment. ”

“ A wise man was once asked whether he knew of any good which is not coveted, or any evil which deserves no mercy, and he said: "Yes, they are humility and pride."
To despise a proud man is true humility. ”

“ Generosity is to do a kindness before it is asked, and to pity and give a man who asks.
A generous man is nigh unto God, nigh unto men, nigh unto paradise, far from hell.
Overlook the faults of a generous man, for God helps him when he falls and gives him when he is needy.
A man who doeth good does not fall, and if he fall he will find a support. ”

“ If a man do you a favour recompense him, and if you are unable to do so, pray for him.
The worst kind of recompense is to requite evil for good.
Reproach faults by kindness, and requite evil by good.
There is no glory in revenge.
Meet insult by insult, and honour by honour. Evil can be repelled only by evil. ”

“ The fool is an enemy to himself—how can he then be a friend to others?
An ignorant man is highly favoured, for he casts away the burden of life, and does not vex his soul with thoughts of time and eternity.
The most effectual preacher to a man is himself. A man never turns away from his passions unless the rebuke comes from himself to himself. ”

“ Avarice and ill-nature have no place in the heart of a good man.
Avarice is the parent of all evil dispositions.
The riches of an avaricious man go either to naught or to an heir.
He who is close-fisted shall be treated in a like manner.
A man who is miserly to himself cannot be generous to others.
An avaricious man is more lavish of his life than of his money.
A liberal man lives on his riches, a miser is eaten up by them.
A miser lives the life of a poor man in this world, and will be judged as a rich man in the world to come. ”

“ A true man yearns towards his native country, and longs for his home as a lion longs for his lair.
It is a sign of sound judgment when the heart craves for country and home.
He is better to suffer hardship in one's own country than to enjoy ease in a foreign land. ”

“ WISDOM, PRUDENCE, EXPERIENCE
Reason is a light in the heart which distinguishes between truth and error.
A wise man sees with his heart what a fool does not see with his eyes.
Men should be judged according to their lights (reason) .
A wise man is not he who considers how he may get out of an evil, but he who sees that he does not fall into it.
Actions are judged by their endings. If you desire a thing, consider its end.
A man cannot be wise without experience.
No wise man will be bitten twice from the same den. ”

“ Be merciful, and you will have mercy; forgive and you will be forgiven.
Sayings and Proverbs. Of all things God loveth best forgiveness when one is able to inflict harm, and forbearance when one is angry.
The pleasure of forgiving is sweeter than the pleasure of revenge.
Forgiveness is perfect when the sin is not remembered.
The most wicked of men is he who accepts no apology, covers no sin, and forgives no fault.
Small men transgress, great men forgive.
A noble man condones and pardons, and when by chance he finds out a sin, he conceals it. ”

“ A lazy man can never succeed in life.
It is one of the signs of weakness to leave things to fate.
A lazy man loses what is due to him.
Weakness and sloth lead to ruin.
A man gets tired of having nothing to do, as he gets tired of work.
If work is hard, want of work is a great evil.
Youth, riches, and leisure are the great corrupters of life.
The head of an idle man is the workshop of Satan. ”

“ I have looked far and wide, and saw nothing on the faces of men but looks of perplexity or regret.
To complain of one's grief, except to God, is an humiliation.
He who thinks that Fortune will always favour him is a fool.
Follow the tracks of the fortunate man and you will come to fortune. ”

“ My son, he who sees his own faults has no time to see the faults of others; he who is satisfied with the allotments of Providence does not regret the past; he who unsheaths the sword of aggression will be killed by it; he who digs a pit for his brother will fall into it; he who forgets his own sin makes much of the sin of another; he who takes to evil ways will be despised; he who commits excesses will be known to do them ”

“ Proverbs. Do not be ashamed to give little, for it is less than that, if you give nothing.
If you give, give freely, and if you strike, strike boldly.
He who soweth kindness shall reap thanks.
What a man does for God is never lost.
Be merciful to him who is beneath you, and you will have mercy from Him who is above you.
The best kind of good is that which is done most speedily.
Inopportune kindness is injustice.
No true joy but in doing good and no true sorrow but in doing evil.
Cruelty to animals is forbidden by God.
A peacemaker gets two-thirds of the blows. ”

“ An old man among his people is like a prophet sent from God.
To venerate old age is to revere God.
Youth is a kind of madness.
The wisest young men are they who follow the good example of the old, and the most foolish old men are they who follow the bad example of the young. ”

“ God loves the man who is tender-hearted.
An evil nature is a calamity from which there is no escape.
If you hear that a mountain has moved from its place believe it, but if you hear that a man has changed his character do not believe it, for he will act only according to his nature. ”

“ A wise man is never happy. (For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.—ECCLES. i. 18.)
IGNORANCE, FOLLY
Ignorance is the greatest poverty.
Ignorance is death in life.
There is no evil so great as ignorance.
Folly is an incurable disease.
A foolish man is like an old garment, which if you patch it in one place becomes rent in many other places.
It is just as allowable to blame a blind man for want of sight as to blame a fool for his folly.
To bear the folly of a fool is indeed a great hardship. ”

“ Your secret is your captive, betray it and you become its captive.
A man should be a tomb in which a secret is deposited.
If you keep your secret you are safe, and it will be to your sorrow if you reveal it.
Hearts are the depositaries of secrets, lips their locks, and tongues their keys.
The hearts of the wise are the fortresses of secrets.
DECEIT
Deceit does more harm to the deceitful than to the deceived.
If a man commit these three things they will rise against him in judgment and punishment—aggression, perfidy, and deceit. ”

“ Man can be thankful to God only so far as he does good to his fellow men.
If a man professes to thank God and his wealth decreases, his thanksgiving must be vitiated by his neglect of the hungry and naked. ”

“ Thee alone we worship, and from Thee alone we seek help. Guide us to the right path—the path of them to whom Thou hast been gracious—not of them with whom Thou art angry, nor of them who have gone astray. ”

“ For my mouth shall utter truth;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
For whoso findeth me findeth life,
And shall obtain favour of the Lord.
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:
All they that hate me love death."
[1] "A fool throws a stone into a well, and a thousand wise men cannot get it out."
[2] "A man is safe when alone." "Paradise without human companions is not worth living in."
[3] "Do no good, and you will meet with no evil."
THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE KORAN
In the name of God, who is abundant in mercy and compassion! ”

“ When anger is repressed by reason of inability to do immediate harm, it retires into the heart in the form of malice and breeds these vices—envy, triumph over the enemy's ill, repulsion of friendly approaches, contempt, slander, derision, personal violence, and injustice.
MURDER
The first thing which shall be taken up in the Day of Judgment is murder.
Man is a building made by God, and he who destroys the building of God shall be demolished.
Put no man to undeserved death, for God forbids murder. ”