Here are some famous sayings of Imam Ali (AS), the first Imam of Shia Muslims:

* Happy is the man who always kept the afterlife in his view, who remembers the Day of Reckoning through his deeds, who led a contented life and who was happy with the lot that Allah hath destined for him.

* Adversities often bring your good qualities to the front.

* Success is the result of foresight and resolution, foresight depends upon deep thinking and planning, and the most important factor of planning is to keep your secrets to yourself.

* Hearts of people are like wild birds, they attach themselves to those who love and train them.

* Only he can forgive who has power to punish.

* If you help a deserving person without his request then it is generosity and if you help him after his request then mostly it is due to shyness to your refusal or fear of reproach.

* There is no greater wealth than wisdom, no greater poverty than ignorance, no greater heritage than culture and no greater helpmate than consultation.

* Wealth converts every foreign country into your native place, and poverty turns your native place into a strange land.

* Contentment is the capital which will never come to an end.

* Wealth is the fountainhead of inordinate cravings.

* Whoever warns you against sins and vices is like the one who is carrying news of salvation to you.

* The tongue is such a ferocious beast that if let loose, it will act ravenously.

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

* To lose friends is to become a stranger in one’s own country.

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

* Do not be ashamed if the amount of charity is small because to return the needy empty-handed is an act of greater shame.

* If you cannot get things as much as you desire, then be contented with what you have.

* An uneducated man or a savage will always overdo a thing or neglect to do it properly.

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

* Every breath you take is a step forward towards death.

* Anything which can be counted or reckoned is finite and will come to an end.

* If you are confused about good or bad effects of an action, then study carefully the cause and you will know what the effects will be.

* The value of each man depends upon the art and skill which he has attained.