One scientist, a famous person in Basra, came to visit the humble abode of an old dervish. Dervish fell ill and lay in bed. The scientist sat down next to him and started a pious conversation. He spoke long and colorfully about how terrible the world is, mired in vice.
Dervish listened to him in silence. When the scientist finished his speech, the dervish said in response:
-You love the world too much. If you weren't so partial to him, you wouldn't remember him so often. The buyer at the bazaar does the same thing - first he criticizes what he really wants to buy. If you were done with the world, you would speak neither good nor bad of it. It’s not for nothing that the proverb says: a person often remembers what is dear to his heart.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru