Mullah Nasruddin on how to make people stop talking

One day, Molla and his son went on a journey. Molla preferred to let his son ride the donkey while he walked. Along the way, they passed some travellers. “Look at that healthy young boy on the donkey! That’s today’s youth for you! They have no respect for their elders! He rides while his poor father walks!” The words made the lad feel very ashamed, and he insisted that his father ride while he walked. So Molla climbed on the donkey and the boy walked by his side. Soon they met another group. “Well, look at that! Poor little boy has to walk while his father rides the donkey,” they exclaimed. This time, Molla climbed onto the donkey behind his son. Soon they met another group, who said, “Look at that poor donkey! He has to carry the weight of two people.” Molla then told his son, “The best thing is for both of us to walk. Then no one can complain.” So they continued their journey on foot. Again they met some travellers.” Just look at those fools. Both of them are walking under this hot sun and neither of them is riding the donkey!” In exasperation, Molla lifted the donkey onto his shoulders and said, “Come on, if we don’t do this, it will be impossible to make people stop talking.”

Saadi: On Envy

You cannot, however you may try, stop the mouths of critics.

If a man prefers his privacy, and does not seek the company of others: they attack him, saying that such a one flees like a demon.
If he laughs, they cannot believe that he is at all sober.
The rich man cannot hide from them, for he is described by them as a ‘worldly Pharaoh.’
If a dervish is in difficulties, they say that it is due to his being evil and having ill-luck.
When a prosperous man has troubles, they hold that it is a blessing and a sign of the intervention of God. They say: ‘How long can prominence abide? Is happiness not always followed by misfortune?’

And when they find that a poor man attains success and felicity – they grind their teeth in envy, carping: ‘The world cherishes only the useless!’
When your hands are fully occupied by work you are ‘greedy’; but just stop working and you are a ‘real beggar.’
If you speak, you are a ‘rattling drum.’ If you remain silent, you are ‘nothing more than a picture on a wall.’
The forbearing person is, to them, no man at all; for, ‘Poor thing, he cannot even raise his head because of fear!’ But let them come upon a brave and mettlesome man, and they will scuttle from him, whining: ‘What kind of a madman is this?’

The man who eats very little is, to them, a miser, hoarding up his substance. If his food is delicious and fine, though, ‘He is a slave to his stomach and a worshipper of the flesh.’
An unceremonious rich man, wearing simple clothes: they slash with tongues like blades, for: ‘Odious one, he has money sure enough, yet grudges to spend it even on himself!’

Now let him wear good clothes and arrange a pleasant hall: They will drive him out of his wits, claiming that he is without a doubt effeminate.
If a devout man has not traveled, the migrants among them will call him ‘A man who has not journeyed an arm’s-length from his wife’s side.’ How could he possibly have any knowledge, art or skill?

But they will flay the wanderer too: ‘Fortune has passed him by, for if any luck at all had been his, he would not have had to roam like that from town to town.’

(Sheikh Saadi of Shiraz)