[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom (M. Fethullah Gulen)

This book is a compilation of some of the wise sayings of M. Fethullah Gülen, each of which is a criterion or pearl of wisdom by which we may seek and find our way in today’s world, or a light illuminating our way, to live as a responsible human being. It contains golden rules for the journeying through life.

Those who attempt to reform the world must first reform themselves. In order to be followed by others in the way to a better world, they must purify their inner worlds of hatred, rancor, and jealousy and adorn their outer worlds with all kinds of virtues. The utterances of those who are far removed from self-control and self-discipline, who have failed to refine their feelings, may seem attractive and insightful at first, but they will not be able to inspire others or, if indeed they do, the sentiments they arouse will soon die away.

Goodness, beauty, truthfulness and being virtuous lie in the essence of the world. Whatever happens, the world will one day find this essence and no one will be able to prevent that happening.

Pearls of Wisdom

1. "I can forgive but I cannot forget," is only one way of saying, "I will not forgive."

2. Forgiveness aught to be like a canceled note, torn into two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.

3. The glory of Islam is to conquer by forgiveness.

4. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does change the future.

5. Life is an adventure in forgiveness. You are never so strong as when you forgive.

6. He who cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself, for every man has the need to be forgiven.

7. As long as you don't forgive, who and whatever will occupy rent free space in your mind.

8. To err is human, to forgive is divine.

9. Forgive all who have offended you, not for them but for yourself.

salam

[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom

1. The only way to have a friend is to be one.

2. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

3. It's not what you look at matters, it's what you see.

4. Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.

5. The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

6. Life is like a coin, you can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once.

7. It is not the length of life, but the depth of life that matters.

8. The great use of life is to spend it for something that will out last it.

9. Life is not a sum of what we are but what we yearn to be.

10. Live everyday as if it were your last, because one of these days it will be.

salam

[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.

2. Love does not dominate, it cultivates. Do all things with love.

3. The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree, but hold hands.

4. We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.

5. If you judge people, you have no time to love.

6. What counts in making a happy relationships is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.

7. Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.

8. We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

9. The saddest part of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than it gathers wisdom.

10. Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.

salam

[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Science investigates, religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power, religion gives man wisdom which is control.

2. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

3. It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

4. I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

5. Try not to be a man of success, but rather try to become a man of values.

6. Failure is a success if we learn from it.

7. No man succeeds without a good woman behind him. Wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed.

8. The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing to get along with people.

9. Let him know who would enjoy a good future, waste none of his present.

10. Men talk about killing time, while time is quietly killing them.

salam

[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Much may be done with those little shreds and patches of time which everyday produces, and which most men throw away.

2. Minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars and each moment is a day.

3. Until you value yourself; you won't value time, until you value time; you will not do anything with it.

4. Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.

5. To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom, and he who increases his riches increases his cares, but a contented mind is a treasure hidden.

6. Patience is the companion of wisdom.

7. In seeking wisdom you are wise, in imagining that you have attained it, you are a fool.

8. Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time.

9. We are made wise not by the recollection of our past but by the responsibility of our future.

10. The art of wisdom is the art of knowing what to overlook.

salam

[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Nothing will work until you do. Every noble work at first is impossible.

2. To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.

3. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

4. Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

5. The one thing that over comes hard luck is hard work.

6. The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

7. The best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

8. Sometimes it takes a disaster to wake us up and make us realize the blessings we have.

9. Too often it takes a direct confrontation with one's mortality to learn the value of the limited time we have on earth.

10. Many of us believe that time is money. Time isn't money; time is everything. The way we spend our time is what our life is all about.

salam

[vanillawafer]

Pearls of Wisdom

1. When the inward is good the outward is also inevitably so, for the outward follows the inward, whether for good or evil.

2. Prove the sincerity of your respect for the Qur'an by putting its teachings into practice, not by arguing about it.

3. You must fill your time with worship so that no period of time elapses whether by night or by day, without being used in some act of goodness.

4. Good character consists in three traits: avoiding that which is forbidden, seeking that which is permitted, and being generous.

5. Whoever busies himself with that which does not concern him, then he misses out on much of that which does concern him.

6. If we spend our time paying attention to the wisdom of our heart rather than the wisdom of our head, we will benefit greatly.

7. Love is always the answer to every question and problem. We are here to love and be loved and learn a few things in the process.

8. To begin anew, we must say good-bye to who we once were.

9. Have the courage to begin the new life that each day brings you. No matter what changes and losses you have experienced, step back and see where you need to begin.

10. How do we find joy in our lives? Too often it comes at a significant price. You learn that you are mortal and suddenly what used to seem important isn't. Things that used to bother you don't anymore. What then becomes significant are the people who you love and who love you.

salam

[TrentReznor858]

Originally Posted by vanillawafer

10. Live everyday as if it were your last, because one of these days it will be.
salam

Not exactly a religious "pearl of wisdom" as it can be understood in different ways.