My dear heart, never think you are better than others. Listen to their sorrows with compassion. If you want peace, don't harbor bad thoughts, do not gossip and don't teach what you do not know.
RumiRead
God has allowed some magical reversal to occur, so that you see the scorpion pit as an object of desire, and all the beautiful expanse around it as dangerous and swarming with snakes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the idea that our perceptions can be distorted, leading us to desire what is harmful and fear what is truly beautiful.
Rumi's quote emphasizes the paradox of human perception, suggesting that often we are drawn to things that are actually detrimental to us, like the scorpion pit, while we become apprehensive of the wonderful and serene aspects of life that surround us. This reversal in perception hints at a deep wisdom about the dangers of valuing appearances and the need for introspection to recognize our true desires and fears.
Themes
PerceptionDesireFearWisdomParadox
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming fears and recognizing true desires.
More from Rumi
All quotes →The Law of Wonder rules my life at last, _x000D_ ...I burn each second of my life to Love _x000D_ Each second of my life burns out in Love _x000D_ In each leaping second Love lives afresh.
RumiRead
Lovers have heartaches _x000D_ That can't be cured by drugs _x000D_ Or sleep, _x000D_ Or games, _x000D_ But only by seeing their beloved.
RumiRead
Every fragile beauty, every perfect forgotten sentence, you grieve their going away, but that is not how it is. Where they come from never goes dry. It is an always flowing spring.
RumiRead
Whatever you keep hidden in your heart, God _x000D_ manifests in you outwardly. Whatever the root of _x000D_ the tree feeds on in secret, affects the bough and _x000D_ the leaf.
RumiRead
Come on sweetheart let's adore one another before there is no more of you and me
RumiRead
Similar quotes
The governments alone are responsible for the spread of the superstitious awe with which the common man looks upon every bit of paper upon which the treasury or agencies which it controls have printed the magical words legal tender.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
It may be that religion is dead, and if it is, we had better know it and set ourselves to try to discover other sources of moral strength before it is too late.
Pearl S. BuckRead
Let Pascal say that man is a thinking reed. He is wrong; man is a thinking erratum. Each period in life is a new edition that corrects the preceding one and that in turn will be corrected by the next, until publication of the definitive edition, which the publisher donates to the worms.
Machado De AssisRead
GNP measures neither our courage, our wisdom neither our compassion. It measures everything except what makes life worthwhile
Robert KennedyRead
If I seem to wander, if I seem to stray, remember that true stories seldom take the straightest way
Patrick RothfussRead
I've spent most of my mature life trying to prove that I'm not irresponsible.
Orson WellesRead