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Thy business is changing things and bestowing favours,
My business is mistakes and forgetfulness and error,
Change my mistakes and forgetlulness to knowledge
I am altogether vile; make me temperate and meek.
O thou that convertest salt earth into bread
And bread again into the life of men,
Thou makest some earth-born men as heaven
And multipliest heaven-born saints on earth.

— Rumi Attributed A Dictionary of Oriental Quotations (1911)

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More quotes by Rumi

Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune:
Every success depends upon focusing the heart.

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

The branch might seem like the fruit's origin:
In fact, the branch exists because of the fruit.

If you wish to shine like day, burn up the night of self-existence. Dissolve in the Being who is everything.

God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Rumi (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.