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
There is no room for hypocrisy. Why use bitter soup for healing when sweet water is everywhere?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of authenticity and the absurdity of choosing negative experiences when positive options are available.
Rumi's quote suggests that hypocrisy and self-deception have no place in one's life. It questions why one would choose a painful or bitter experience, represented by 'bitter soup,' for healing when there are abundant positive alternatives, symbolized by 'sweet water.' The metaphor highlights the importance of seeking genuine, nourishing experiences rather than clinging to negativity or insincerity.
Themes
AuthenticityHypocrisyHealingPositivityTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational talk about the importance of being true to oneself.
More from Rumi
All quotes βThe 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
It is also a natural thing for a serious young man that he should form for himself as precise an idea as possible of the goal of his desires.
Albert EinsteinRead
So much the worse for those who fear wine, for it is because they have some bad thoughts which they are afraid the liquor will extract from their hearts.
Alexandre DumasRead
You'd think is something one would grow out of. But you grow into it. The more you do, the more you realize how painfully easy it is to be lousy and how very difficult to be good.
Glenda JacksonRead
Do not to let your feelings (very natural and usual ones) of momentary irritation and discomfort be seen by others don't (as you so often did and do) let every little feeling be read in your face and seen in your manner . . .
Queen VictoriaRead
What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and ridicule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far county. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.
Brennan ManningRead
You know, many people have said that I'm on the edge and I'm maverick for some of the big operations that I've done. I'm not at all. I pray; I ask God to give me wisdom, 'Should I do it?', guidance in terms of how to do it, who to consult with. All those kind of things are incredibly important.
Benjamin CarsonRead