I know those habits that can ruin your life
Still send their invitations…
Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins
That may buy you just a moment of pleasure,
But then drag you for days
Like a broken man
Behind a farting camel.
—Hafiz, the Sufi Poet
If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, infinite.
—William Blake
In enjoyment is the fear of disease,
In high birth, the fear of losing caste,
In wealth, the fear of tyrants,
In honor, the fear of losing it,
In strength, the fear of enemies,
In beauty, the fear of old age,
In knowledge, the fear of defeat,
In virtue, the fear of scandal,
In the body, the fear of death.
In this life all is fraught with fear:
Renunciation alone is fearless.
—Vedanta
Open your eyes: see things for what they really are, thereby sparing yourself the pain of false attachments and avoidable devastation.
—Epictetus
