Arabian Wisdom Part 4

He who has an evil thing in him thinks all men are like him.

If a man think well of you, make his thought true.

A poet says: "It was my habit to think well of others until experience taught me otherwise."

Be well with G.o.d and fear nothing.

Most men think well of themselves, and this is self-delusion.

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.

No boon is so remunerative as reason.

Long experience is an addition to mind.

Consideration may take the place of experience.

A wise man is he who has been taught by experience.

One word is sufficient to the wise man.

A cheap offer makes a wise purchaser wary.

He who considers consequences will attain his object, and he who does not carefully think on them, evil will be sure to overtake him.

Everything has need of reason, and reason has need of experience.

Mind and experience are like water and earth co-operating--neither of which alone can bring forth a flower.

Reason and anxious thought are inseparable.

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 hards.h.i.+p.

The best way to treat a fool is to shun him.

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 pa.s.sions unless the rebuke comes from himself to himself.

CONSULTATION

If you consult a wise man, his wisdom becomes yours.

Confide your secret to one only, and hear the counsel of a thousand.

(In the mult.i.tude of counsellors there is safety. PROV. xi. 14.)

A counsellor is a trusted man.

When men consult together, they are led by the wisest among them.

The knowledge of two is better than the knowledge of one. Two heads are better than one.

Let your counsellor be one who fears G.o.d.

Consult a man of experience, for he gives you what has cost him much, and for which you give nothing.

A man who is older than yourself by a day is more experienced than you by a year.

Consult an older man and a younger, then decide for yourself.

The wisest may need the advice of others.

He who is wise, and consults others, is a whole man; he who has a wise opinion of his own, and seeks no counsel from others, is half a man; and he who has no opinion of his own, and seeks no advice, is no man at all.