Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves.
Al-GhazaliRead
Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.
Interpretation
The struggle with one's own thoughts and emotions can be the most challenging aspect of life.
In this quote, Al-Ghazali reflects on the complexity of the human soul, emphasizing that the greatest battles we face often occur within ourselves. This internal struggle can manifest as a source of support or as an obstacle, demonstrating the dual nature of self-awareness and personal growth.
In practice
During a philosophy class, you might quote Al-Ghazali to illustrate the importance of introspection.
Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves.
The happiness of the drop is to die in the river.
To completely trust in Allah is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if he does not call for the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is looking after him.
Do not fix hopes on your health, and do not laugh away life. Remember how they walked and now all their joints lie separately, and the tongue with which they talked lightly is eaten away by the worms
A man of bad character punishes his own soul.
The mere physical man is like the ant crawling on the paper, who observes black lettering and attributes its production to the pen and nothing more.
The Cosmos was not made by gods but always was and is eternal fire.
What does the earth look like in the places where people commit atrocities? Is there a bad smell, a genius loci, something about the landscape that might incriminate?
Though thousand times a thousand in battle one may conquer, yet should one conquer just oneself, one is the greatest conqueror.
To the extent to which a man is rational, life is the premise directing his actions. To the extent to which he is irrational, the premise directing his actions is death.
Public opinion is always more tyrannical towards those who obviously fear it than towards those who feel indifferent to it.
If you give your soul up to anything earthly, whether it be the wealth, or the honours, or the pleasures of this world, you might as well hunt after the mirage of the desert or try to collect the mists of the morning, or to store up for yourself the clouds of the sky, for all these things are passing away.
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