One dervish, instructing a student, said: “There is only one way to make people listen to you. You have to know what you're saying and you have to behave appropriately towards the people you're talking to."
The student, irritated by how long the elder was passing on his wisdom, stood up and, without listening to the end, went about his business.
For several years he studied the art of knowing what he said and cultivated the behavior of a good person. People began to respect him, and few left his company without noting that he had a pure heart.
One day the young man arrived in the city where he was going to give a speech.
His lecture ended in a scandal, and no one came to see him again. He returned for clarification to his teacher, who was already over a hundred.
- Oh, are you a person who didn’t wait until the end of the teaching? You see, people want to learn from a saint, and if they want a real person, they won't listen to someone who just looks like a saint. A teacher is characterized not by how he looks, but by the effect he produces.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru