Muslih-ud-Din Saadi

A person can understand his purpose in the same way as he understands his dignity. Only a religious person can understand his purpose in life. A king asked a holy man, “Do you remember me?” The holy man answered, “Yes, I think about you, when I forget about God.”

I never complain about my fate. Once, I did not have shoes, and I complained to God. I went into church with a heavy heart and in the church I saw a man without both feet. So I thanked God that he had given me both feet, and that my only problem was that they were unshod.

A deep river is not troubled if you throw a stone into it. If a religious person is hurt by criticism, then he is not a river but a shallow pool. Forgive others, and then you will receive forgiveness.

First think, then speak. Stop when told “enough. ” A person is higher than an animal because of his ability to speak, but he is lower than an animal if he cannot properly use this ability.

A dress presented to you as a gift by the king may be beautiful, but your own simple dress is better. Different meals from the tables of the rich may be good, but a loaf of simple bread from your own table always tastes much better.

Be humble and oppose dissipation. Even a thin sword cannot cut salt silk. Using tender words and kindness, you can lead an elephant with a hair.

A man who praises himself does not see anything except himself around him. It is better to be a blind man than to see only yourself and nobody else.

A saint prayed to God in the following way: “O God, please be kind to evil people as much as you are to kind people. Kind people already feel good, because they are kind.”

After a long conversation, stop and try to remember what you have just discussed. Don’t be surprised if many things, sometimes even everything you have discussed, were meaningless, empty, and trivial, and sometimes even bad. A stupid person should keep silent. But if he knew this, he would not be a stupid person.