How much more of the mosque, of prayer and fasting?_x000D_ _x000D_ Better go drunk and begging round the taverns._x000D_ _x000D_ Khayyam, drink wine, for soon this clay of yours_x000D_ _x000D_ Will make a cup, bowl, one day a jar._x000D_ _x000D_ When once you hear the roses are in bloom,_x000D_ _x000D_ Then is the time, my love, to pour the wine;_x000D_ _x000D_ Houris and palaces and Heaven and Hell-_x000D_ _x000D_ These are but fairy-tales, forget them all.
Interpretation
Enjoy the pleasures of life in the present rather than getting lost in religious rituals or concerns about the afterlife.
This quote by Omar Khayyam advocates for the appreciation of life's immediate joys over the pursuit of spiritual or religious obligations. It emphasizes a hedonistic philosophy, suggesting that traditional concepts of Heaven and Hell are mere illusions, urging individuals to savor the transient beauty of life, such as love, wine, and the blooming of roses. The call to indulge is a reminder that life is fleeting and should be cherished now rather than postponed for promises of an afterlife.
In practice
In a speech about living life to the fullest, one might quote Khayyam to illustrate the importance of seizing the moment.
When you are so full of sorrow_x000D_ that you can't walk, can't cry anymore,_x000D_ think about the green foliage that sparkles after_x000D_ the rain. When the daylight exhausts you, when_x000D_ you hope a final night will cover the world,_x000D_ think about the awakening of a young child.
Oh! My beloved! fill the cup, that clears to-day of past regrets and future fears.
Itβs too bad if a heart lacks fire,_x000D_ and is deprived of the light _x000D_ of a heart ablaze._x000D_ The day on which you are_x000D_ without passionate love_x000D_ is the most wasted day of your life.
So when that Angel of the darker Drink, at last shall find you by the river-brink,_x000D_ _x000D_ And, offering his Cup, invite your Soul forth to your Lips to quaff-you shall not shrink.
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.
So I be written in the Book of Love. I do not care about that Book Above. Erase my name, or write it as you will. So I be written in the Book of Love.
I am honorary President of the American Humanist Society, having succeeded the late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in that utterly functionless capacity. We Humanists behave as well as we can, without any rewards or punishments in an Afterlife.
If we take the poor away from the Gospel, we won't be able to understand the whole message of Jesus Christ.
And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow. Both for a philosopher and for a scientist it can be important not to reject the possibility of finding a white crow. You might almost say that hunting for 'the white crow' is science's principal task.
I see that already in this present world I am exalted above measure by the Lord. And I was not worthy nor such a one as that he should grant this to me, since I know most surely that poverty and affliction become me better than delights and riches.
The difficulty we have in accepting responsibility for our behavior lies in the desire to avoid the pain of the consequences of that behavior.
No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.