Rumi

I have endowed everyone with a temperament of his own, given everyone an idiom of his own; so that what is praise for him is blame for thee, what is honey for him is poison for thee, what is light for him is fire for thee, what is rose for him is thorn for thee, what is good for him is evil for thee, what is beautiful for him is ugly for thee. In the people of Hindustan the idiom of Hindustan is praiseworthy; in the people of Sind, the idiom of Sind is praiseworthy. I do not see the outward and the speech; I see the inward and the state [of feeling]. For the heart is the substance and speech an accident. So, the accident is subservient, the substance is the [real] object. The religion of love stands apart from all religions. For lovers the [only] religion and creed is God.

Ah, me! so poor, can I declare that friend, who never had another friend his like,—none, therefore, who could know his soul?

Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion.

Whoever gives reverence receives reverence.

He whose intellect overcomes his desire is higher than the angels; he whose desire overcomes his intellect is less than an animal.

The fault is in the one who blames. Spirit sees nothing to criticize.

The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.

Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more — more unseen forms become manifest to him.

Reason is like an officer when the King appears; The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is the shadow cast by God; God is the sun.

"Tell me, gentle traveller, thou Who hast wandered far and wide, Seen the sweetest roses blow And the brightest rivers glide,— Say, of all thine eyes have seen, Which the fairest land has been.""Lady, shall I tell thee where Nature seems most blest and fair, Far above all climes beside?— ’Tis where those we love abide; And that little spot is best Which the loved one’s foot hath pressed."Though it be a fairy space, Wide and spreading is the place; Though ’twere but a barren mound, ’Twould become enchanted ground. With thee, yon sandy waste would seem The margin of Al Cawthar's stream; And thou canst make a dungeon’s gloom A bower where new-born roses bloom.

The compass only serves to direct the prayers of those who are outside of the Caaba, whilst within it no one knows the use of it.

Pants thy spirit to be gifted With a deathless life, Let it seek to be uplifted O’er earth’s storm and strife. Spurn its joys,—its ties dissever, Hopes and fears divest; Thus, aspire to live for ever, Be for ever blest.

And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?

You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.

Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.

I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.

Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?

In each moment the fire rages, it will burn away a hundred veils. And carry you a thousand steps toward your goal.