Be humble to a superior, and affable to an inferior, and receive all men with cheerfulness.

Be not scornful to any, nor be opposed to all things; for there is no man that hath not his hour, nor is there anything which hath not its place.

Attempt not to appease thy neighbour in the time of his anger, nor comfort him in the time when his dead is lying before him, nor ask of him in the time of his vowing, nor desire to see him in the time of his calamity.[96]

   [96] “Do not,” says Nakhshabi, “try to move by persuasion the
        soul that is afflicted with grief.  The heart that is
        overwhelmed with the billows of sorrow will, by slow
        degrees, return to itself.”

Hold no man responsible for his utterances in times of grief.

Who gains wisdom?  He who is willing to receive instruction from all sources.  Who is rich?  He who is content with his lot.  Who is deserving of honour?  He who honoureth mankind.  Who is the mighty man?  He who subdueth his temper.[97]

   [97] “He who subdueth his temper is a mighty man,” says the
        Talmudist; and Solomon had said so before him:  “He that
        is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that
        ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Prov.
        xvi, 32).  A curious parallel to these words is found in
        an ancient Buddhistic work, entitled Buddha’s
        Dhammapada, or Path of Virtue, as follows:  “If one man
        conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, and
        if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of
        conquerors.” (Professor Max Mueller’s translation,
        prefixed to Buddhagosha’s Parables, translated by
        Captain Rogers.)

When a liar speaks the truth, he finds his punishment in being generally disbelieved.

The physician who prescribes gratuitously gives a worthless prescription.

He who hardens his heart with pride softens his brains with the same.

The day is short, the labour vast; but the labourers are still slothful, though the reward is great, and the Master presseth for despatch.[98]

   [98] Cf.  Saadi, ante, page 41, “Life is snow,” etc.

He who teacheth a child is like one who writeth on new paper; and he who teacheth old people is like one who writeth on blotted paper.[99]

   [99] Locke was anticipated not only by the Talmudist, as
        above, but long before him by Aristotle, who termed the
        infant soul tabula rasa, which was in all likelihood
        borrowed by the author of the Persian work on the
        practical philosophy of the Muhammedans, entitled
        Akhlak-i-Jalaly, who says:  “The minds of children are
        like a clear tablet, equally open to all inscriptions.”

First learn and then teach.