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All your restlessness is out of your desire for stillness Just desire restlessly, then, love will fill and still you. All your unhealthiness is out of your desire for health, Just abandon health, then, even poison will heal you.
Rumi
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that our desires can lead to restlessness or unhealthiness, but by embracing our desires instead of resisting them, we can find peace and healing.

Rumi's quote highlights the paradox of desire and fulfillment. It implies that our constant yearning—for stillness or health—can create restlessness and dissatisfaction. Instead of suppressing these desires, we should embrace them without attachment, allowing love and healing to manifest naturally. The essence of the message lies in the understanding that by surrendering to our genuine needs and desires, rather than controlling them, we can achieve the tranquility and well-being we seek.

Themes

DesireStillnessHealthLoveHealing

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about finding peace in chaos.

More from Rumi

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.
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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.
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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.
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Come on sweetheart let's adore one another before there is no more of you and me
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