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An ant who saw a pen writing on paper
Delivered himself to another ant in this way:
‘That pen is making very wonderful figures
Like hyacinths and lillies and roses,’
The other said ‘The finger is the real worker,
The pen is only the instrument of its working;’
A third ant said, ‘No! the action proceeds from the arm,
The weak finger writes with the arm’s might;’
So it went on upwards, till at last
A prince of the ants who had some wit
Said, ‘Ye regard only the outward form of this marvel,
It is only from reason and mind that these figures proceed.

— 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.