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

Greed is permanent slavery

The highest person is he who is of most use to humankind.

Greed takes a person to the watering place but gets him back without letting him drink. It undertakes responsibility but does not fulfill it. Often the drinker gets choked before quenching his thirst. The greater the worth of a thing yearned for, the greater is the grief for its loss. Desires blind the eyes of understanding. The destined share would reach him who does not approach it.

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

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.

Had there not been five bad qualities, all the people would have been righteous. Contentment with ignorance; love for worldly life; miserliness inspite of much wealth; ostentation in (good) deeds; and pride in their own intelligence.