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
If I gaze at my beloved she may feel embarrassed and if I do not, she will feel neglected. I can see the stars reflecting in the calm water of her face but if I look away I lose my clarity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates the delicate balance of attention in love, where both too much and too little can lead to misunderstanding.
In this quote, Rumi expresses the complexity of love and admiration, highlighting how the gaze of a lover can evoke feelings of both embarrassment and neglect. The duality of attention is emphasized; focusing on a beloved can bring clarity and appreciation, while looking away can lead to a loss of connection and understanding.
Themes
LoveAttentionAdmirationConnectionClarity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared at a wedding to highlight the importance of attention in relationships.
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
These are the days of bootleg love.
James ThurberRead
Could fulfillment ever be felt as deeply as loss? Romantically she decided that love must surely reside in the gap between desire and fulfillment, in the lack, not the contentment. Love was the ache, the anticipation, the retreat, everything around it but the emotion itself.
Kiran DesaiRead
The wind is tossing the lilacs,_x000D_ _x000D_ The new leaves laugh in the sun,_x000D_ _x000D_ And the petals fall on the orchard wall,_x000D_ _x000D_ But for me the spring is done._x000D_ _x000D_ Beneath the apple blossoms_x000D_ _x000D_ I go a wintry way,_x000D_ _x000D_ For love that smiled in April_x000D_ _x000D_ Is false to me in May.
Sara TeasdaleRead
The golden hours on angel wings_x000D_ _x000D_ Flew o'er me and my dearie,_x000D_ _x000D_ For dear to me as light and life_x000D_ _x000D_ Was my sweet Highland Mary.
Robert BurnsRead
People think love is an emotion. Love is good sense.
Ken KeseyRead
Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.
Elisabeth ElliotRead