Self-Conceit and Selfishness

o All corruption that comes about in the world stems from selfishness. o All corruption of the world is due to self-conceit.

o As long as man is self-conceited and sees himself, he cannot find the road

to guidance.

o Whenever one says, "I," be sure his "I" is evil.

o Know that the wicked quality of self-conceit emerges from self-love.

o Self-centeredness ("I and not others") is found in all people unless the egos are purified.

o How ignorant is the man who considers these things as position or status,

and how feeble-minded to regard these governments as status or station!

o Try to remove the veil of self-conceit so as to see the beauty that is the

Lord; all pains and troubles will then become wholesome and easy to bear.

o Self-conceit is the legacy of Satan.

o There is going to be wars, corruptions, cruelties, and oppressions as long

as conceit and selfishness exist in mankind.

o If the works are accompanied by selfishness and vanity, God forbid, then

it is the beginning of man's failure.

o One cannot be self-worshipping and God-worshipping at the same time.

One cannot observe his own interests and the interests of Islam

simultaneously. Either of them must be the case.

o Considering oneself of a higher rank in relation to others is mental and

moral decadence.

o If one put aside selfishness in every undertaking and observe the expedient

and the Lord, he will succeed and remain immune to the dangers that

accrue selfishness.

o Quarrels are due to selfishness; they stem from man's ego.

o There are two kinds of self-assertion. Sometimes it is done for "show-off.

This is evil. Some other times it is done with an aim to guide others. This

is divine soul.

o Man's carnal passion or ego tends to claim authority for all things done.

This is selfishness, and the ensuing disputes are due to weakness of faith.

o None can claim immunity to fault; such claim per se establishes the

greatest fault of the claimant.

o Vanity due to success or victory is a major affliction that the inner devil

generates in men so as to make them deviate from the path of truth.

o Vanity and negligence drag men into corruption. o Vanity is an exclusive characteristic of Satan.

o The more one is ignorant, and his intellect weaker, the more is his vanity

and the more one knows, the greater one's soul and the broader his mind,

the greater will be his humility.

Source: 'Wise Sayings of Imam Khomeini" book

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