“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are an entire ocean, in a drop.” Persian poet Rumi said this in one of his poems eight centuries ago, and these words still hold true today. In fact, many psychologists base entire programs on the scientific interpretation of this quote.
Rumi is usually known as a poet but actually was much more than that. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was born in the territory of modern Afghanistan, but his creative and philosophical work and its influence on literature and culture goes beyond one particular nation or language.
Being a scholar and a Sufi mystic, he reflected his deep knowledge of the spiritual world in his poems that have been translated into various languages. Some people think that Rumi poems are just romantic expressions of his feelings. But if you go a little deeper, you will realize they reflect immortal wisdom. Quotes by Rumi about life will have you ponder the value of things we usually don’t pay attention to.
Did you know that Rumi is often described as “the most popular” and “best selling” poet in the United States? Even if you haven’t read his full works, you have probably still heard quotes by Rumi in other places. Whether you look up “Rumi love quotes” or what Rumi said on death, it will likely change your perspective if you look just beyond the surface.
It is practically impossible to say which the best Rumi quotes are out of the vast sea of scholastic concepts he left for us, wrapped in the form of vivid metaphors and poetic descriptions. But it is safe to assume that whatever situation you’re currently experiencing in your life, Rumi will have a piece of profound advice for you.
#1

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
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#2
“It’s your road, and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.”
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#3
“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”
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#4
"The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open."
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#5
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.”
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#6

“I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.”
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#7
"Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop."
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#8
“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”
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#9
“Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?”
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#10
“Laugh as much as you breathe. Love as long as you live.”
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#11

“The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.”
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#12
“Whenever we manage to love without expectations, calculations, negotiations, we are indeed in heaven.”
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#13
“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”
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#14
“Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.”
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#15
“Patience is the key to joy.”
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#16

"I should be suspicious of what I want."
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#17
"Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots."
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#18
"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go."
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#19
“Dance until you shatter yourself.”
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#20
“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about things going badly. Let the lover be.”
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