167. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: Vanity prevents progress. [1]
[1] A person who seeks perfection and believes that he is still in need of it can be expected to attain the aim of perfection, but a person who is under the illusion that he has reached the zenith of progress and perfection will not feel the need to strive to attain it, but according to his own view he has already traversed all the stages of perfection and now he has no stage in sight to strive for. Thus, this vain and illusioned man ill always remain deprived of perfection and this vanity will end all possibility of his rise.
