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
In this mob of I's inside, which one is me? Hear me out. I know I'm wandering, but don't start putting a lid on this racket. No telling what I'll do then. Every moment I'm thrown by your story. One moment it's happy, and I'm singing. One moment it's sad, and I'm weeping. It turns bitter, and I pull away. But then you spill a little grace, and just like that, I'm all light. It's not so bad, this arrangement, actually.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the complexities of self-identity and emotional experiences, emphasizing the fluid nature of feelings influenced by external stories.
Rumi's quote delves into the internal chaos of human emotions and self-perception, symbolized by a 'mob of I's' that represent the different facets of our identity. He acknowledges the contrasting feelings that emerge from interactions with others, like happiness, sadness, and bitterness, and expresses a sense of acceptance and grace in this emotional rollercoaster, suggesting that despite the tumult, there is beauty and light to be found in the shared human experience.
Themes
IdentityEmotionsSelf-ReflectionGraceHuman Experience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about self-identity in a psychology class.
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
The torch of doubt and chaos, this is what the sage steers by.
ZhuangziRead
Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.
Joseph AddisonRead
The Fondness we have for Self, and the Relation which other Persons and Things have to ourselves, furnish us with another long Rank of Prejudices.
Isaac WattsRead
Sanctification is not a work of nature, but a work of grace. It is a transformation of character effected not by moral influences, but supernaturally by the Holy Spirit.
Charles HodgeRead
Debt, grinding debt, whose iron face the widow, the orphan, and the sons of genius fear and hate; debt, which consumes so much time, which so cripples and disheartens a great spirit with cares that seem so base, is a preceptor whose lessons cannot be foregone, and is needed most by those who suffer from it most.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
That man has missed something who has never left a brothel at sunrise feeling like throwing himself into the river out of pure disgust.
Gustave FlaubertRead