• Modified: Feb 21, 2025 • Read in: 7 mins
— By Dr. Sandip Roy.Rumi said many things that speak to the soul. But how does modern psychology interpret Rumi’s quotes?
I thought it would be interesting to examine ten of his beautiful sayings from a psychological perspective.
10 Rumi Quotes That Psychology Agrees With
1. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
That quote, I feel, relates to the idea of post-traumatic growth — lasting positive psychological change as a result of adversity, trauma, or highly challenging life circumstances.
Some people may respond to adversity by investing in friends (extraversion and agreeableness), others may devote themselves to their work (conscientiousness), still others may focus on expanding their experiences (openness).
2. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.
The words in that sound extreme. But I feel that might allude to the idea of growth mindset.
A growth mindset is the belief that we can develop our intelligence and abilities through effort and learning, as opposed to a fixed mindset, which views them as static traits.
A growth mindset makes us grittier and more resilient. It helps us set and achieve new milestones.
That quote of Rumi suggests that to reach greater heights in personal happiness and life satisfaction, one must step outside of one’s comfort zone.
3. Beautiful days do not come to you. You must walk towards them.
That Rumi quote aligns very well with key concepts from positive psychology, specifically:
- Happiness Formula: It tells us that our happiness is more dependent on our intentional actions, and much less on external circumstances. It asserts that lasting happiness and fulfillment comes from personal agency and effort in shaping one’s life.
- Snyder’s Hope Theory: This quote also connects to C.R. Snyder’s influential theory of hope, which said that hope involves three key components:
- Goals thinking: Identifying meaningful, realistic goals to work towards.
- Pathways thinking: Generating multiple potential routes or pathways to achieve those goals.
- Agency thinking: Maintaining the motivation and self-belief to pursue those pathways.
By “walking towards” the beautiful days, we show agency and pathways thinking — actively pursuing our desired outcomes rather than just hoping they will materialize.
4. What you seek is seeking you.
This could reflect the idea of the self-fulfilling prophecy, which suggests that our beliefs and expectations about an event may actually increase its chance of happening.
- In 1968, Rosenthal & Jacobson told teachers at a California elementary school that a certain 20% of their students were set to achieve outstanding results.
- After a year, when they checked the “spurter” group, they had indeed outperformed the other 80%.
- The strange thing was that these 20% students had no special capabilities; they were as average as others. They had excelled merely because their teachers expected them to be above-average.
5. The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.
This seems to be about emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and self-acceptance.
Indeed, lasting fulfillment comes from cultivating inner qualities like empathy, compassion, and self-love, rather than relying solely on external appearances or achievements.
6. Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
When you are too loud, it can make people to stress out or react with anger. It tends to kick in the “fight-or-flight-or-freeze” response in the brain, making it hard to listen or engage their thinking brain.
Kind, smart words—like gentle rain—make people feel safe and happy. It creates a sense of psychological safety. This works because our brains like feeling understood and cared for, not shouted at.
So, Rumi might be asking us to pick words that help others feel safe to grow.
7. Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
This makes a call to intrinsic motivation. We find the greatest satisfaction and engagement when our actions are aligned with our passions, values, and authentic interests, rather than external rewards or pressures.
Read about the psychology of motivation.
8. Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.
This relates to the psychology of awe. The experience of awe, defined as a feeling of wonder, amazement, and smallness in the face of something vast or greater than oneself, has many benefits:
- Intellectual humility: Awe can help us let go of rigid wisdom and fixed biases, and open up to new perspectives. When in awe, we reduce self-centeredness.
- Curiosity and creativity: The wonder associated with awe can stimulate curiosity, exploration, and the synthesis of new ideas and insights.
- Expanded worldview: Awe-inspiring experiences can make us feel more connected to something larger than ourselves, whether it’s nature, the universe, or the human experience.
9. Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and twice as beautiful as you’d ever imagined. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
That speaks to several important psychological principles. It is tied closely to the concept of self-efficacy — belief in our inherent strengths and ability to succeed.
It beautifully points out that while cleverness may make us try to change the external world, true wisdom drives us to change our inner world. The best version of ourselves may never come without humility or self-awareness.
10. When I run after what I think I want, my days are a furnace of stress and anxiety; if I sit in my own place of patience, what I need flows to me, and without pain. From this I understand that what I want also wants me, is looking for me and attracting me. There is a great secret here for anyone who can grasp it.
This quote of Rumi aligns with the psychological value of mindfulness.
Today, a relentless pursuit of our want-fulfillment driven by social comparison is what stresses us the most. Mindfulness is the antidote.
When we practice being fully present and aware in the moment, we stop the craving to match up to what others have. And instead, focus on what is truly essential.
More Rumi Quotes To Live Life By
It’s your road & yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
There is a field, out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, I’ll meet you there.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them.
Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.
You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.
Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation.
As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.
You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?
We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.
The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.
√ Also Read: 25 Quotes On Narcissists That Reveal Their Icy-Cold Nature
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