Quotations

"The light which shines in the eye is really the light of the heart."

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free."

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"God made the illusion look real and the real an illusion."

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"In truth everything and everyone Is a shadow of the Beloved, And our seeking is His seeking And our words are His words... We search for Him here and there, while looking right at Him. Sitting by His side, we ask: 'O Beloved, where is the Beloved?'"

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"I have come to drag you out of yourself and take you in my heart. I have come to bring out the beauty you never knew you had and lift you like a prayer to the sky."

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"When the world pushes you to your knees, you’re in the perfect position to pray."

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."

— Rumi, Persian poet, born 1207

"Befriend the darkness and watch for wonders you have missed in the light."

— Joyce Rupp, American author, spiritual midwife, born 1943

"Rabindranath Tagore writes that the song he wanted to sing has never happened because he spent his days "stringing and unstringing" his instrument. Whenever I read these lines a certain sadness enters my soul. I get so preoccupied with the details and pressure of my schedule, with the hurry and worry of life, that I miss the song of goodness which is waiting to be sung through me."

— Joyce Rupp, American author, spiritual midwife, born 1943

"People gain so much hope when they know they are not experiencing something alone."

— Joyce Rupp, American spiritual midwife, born 1943

"Sometimes you do feel a script that glows in your hand the moment you start reading it. By page four of Shakespeare in Love, I said, I have to be in this movie."

— Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor, born July 6, 1951

"We all owe death a life."

— Salman Rushdie, Indian author, born 1947

"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."

— Salman Rushdie, Indian author, born 1947

"We are the storyteller animal."

— Salman Rushdie, Indian author, born 1947