“If you are wholly perplexed and…” — Rumi · ToDoMatriX

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Patience and long-term thinking

If you are wholly perplexed and in straits, have patience, for patience is the key to joy.

— Rumi (1207–1273), Masnavi, I, 2908 (tr. Helminski, 1990)

Patience and long-term thinking

What it means

When you are confused and hard-pressed, patience is the way through. Rumi calls it the key that unlocks joy.

About the author

Rumi — Sufi mystic and poet (1207–1273).

Source and verification

Source: Masnavi, I, 2908 (tr. Helminski, 1990)
Reference: Rumi on Wikiquote
Checked: Wording and source taken from the sourced section of the author’s Wikiquote page, which cites the work given here (accessed 2026-10-11).
Copyright: Public domain: the author died in 1273. This English translation (Helminski) may still be in copyright; it is quoted briefly with attribution.

The explanation above is ToDoMatriX’s own reading of the quote, not the author’s words.

More on patience and long-term thinking

“It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it.”

Seneca

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.”

Marcus Aurelius

“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”

Charles Darwin