--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have been distracted into unnatural…" description: "\"We have been distracted into unnatural motivations: money, prestige, power. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you money. Listening to the cu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/894/rajneesh-54_butterfly_we-have-been-distracted-into-unnatural-m_556448.jpg" --- # We have been distracted into unnatural motivations: money… ![“We have been distracted into unnatural motivations: money, prestige, power. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you money. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you power, prestige. Watching the butterfly is not going to help you economically, politically, socially. These things…” quote by Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/894/rajneesh-54_butterfly_we-have-been-distracted-into-unnatural-m_556448.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/894/rajneesh-54_butterfly_we-have-been-distracted-into-unnatural-m_556448.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/894/rajneesh-54_butterfly_we-have-been-distracted-into-unnatural-m_556448.jpg) > “We have been distracted into unnatural motivations: money, prestige, power. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you money. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you power, prestige. Watching the butterfly is not going to help you economically, politically, socially. These things are not paying, but these things make you happy.” [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He critiques society’s focus on material gain, urging people to seek happiness through simple, non‑material experiences rather than wealth or status. **In simple terms:** Happiness comes from simple joys, not material success. Key Takeaway Prioritize joy over wealth. Themes materialism happiness simplicity Mood thoughtful inspirational philosophical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily life choices - mindfulness practice - community building Key Concepts philosophy values well‑being Questions to Reflect On - What simple joys fulfill you? - How can you integrate simplicity into a material world? A Different Perspective Material pursuits can still be necessary for survival. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Butterfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly/) [Cuckoo Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cuckoo-going-4621604/) [Cuckoos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cuckoos/) [Distracted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distracted/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Listening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listening/) [Listening Cuckoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listening-cuckoo-4621603/) [Make you happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-you-happy/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Motivations Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivations-money-4621605/) [Prestige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prestige/) [Unnatural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnatural/) [Unnatural Motivations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnatural-motivations-4621607/) [Watching Butterfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watching-butterfly-4621606/) ## Related quotes > [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is a movie that I just find flawless. Jack Nicholson... I just saw 'The Shining' again the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-biehn/one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest-is-a-movie-that-i-just-find-flawless/) [Michael Biehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-biehn/) > [Anyone who thinks cryptozoology is the study of the impossible has never really taken a very good look at the so-called "natural world." Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anyone-who-thinks-cryptozoology-is-the-study-of-the-impossible-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I loved the movie theater so I always saw a lot of movies. And then there was a play, I saw in the local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-o-neill/i-loved-the-movie-theater-so-i-always-saw-a-lot-of-movies-and-then/) [Ed O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-o-neill/) > [The belief that you have a great idea is not worth cuckoo spit. Ideas are ten a penny while the ability to execute counts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/the-belief-that-you-have-a-great-idea-is-not-worth-cuckoo-spit-ideas/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [The first cuckoo's melancholy cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-first-cuckoo-s-melancholy-cry/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/in-italy-for-30-years-under-the-borgias-they-had-warfare-terror/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [Did I ever tell you,’ said Lymond pausing on the afterthought, on his way to the flap, ‘that that aunt of mine once hatched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-dunnett/did-i-ever-tell-you-said-lymond-pausing-on-the-afterthought-on-his/) [Dorothy Dunnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-dunnett/) > [We were surprised how closely the cuckoo imitated the clock-and yet, of course, it could never have heard a clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-were-surprised-how-closely-the-cuckoo-imitated-the-clock-and-yet/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I'm kind of like one of those people that picks up small and interesting bits of wood and doesn't want to let go of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-strummer/i-m-kind-of-like-one-of-those-people-that-picks-up-small-and/) [Joe Strummer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-strummer/) > [The beauty of a cuckoo is in its notes, that of a woman in her unalloyed devotion to her husband, that of an ugly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/the-beauty-of-a-cuckoo-is-in-its-notes-that-of-a-woman-in-her/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [We ought never to sport with pain and distress in any of our amusements, or treat even the meanest insect with wanton cruelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-blair/we-ought-never-to-sport-with-pain-and-distress-in-any-of-our/) [Hugh Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-blair/) > [It seems like cloud cuckoo land. If anyone is suggesting that I would go to Parliament and suggest the abolition of the Pound Sterling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/it-seems-like-cloud-cuckoo-land-if-anyone-is-suggesting-that-i-would/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Negative? Moi? I think realistic might be a better word. You mean to tell me we can drive all the way here from L.A.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/negative-moi-i-think-realistic-might-be-a-better-word-you-mean-to/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The merry cuckow, messenger of Spring, His trumpet shrill hath thrice already sounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/the-merry-cuckow-messenger-of-spring-his-trumpet-shrill-hath-thrice/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Human society is based on want. Life is based on want. Wild-eyed visionaries may dream of a world without need. Cloud-cuckoo-land. It can't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/human-society-is-based-on-want-life-is-based-on-want-wild-eyed/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) ## More by Rajneesh > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It all depends on you. You can go on sleeping forever, you can wake up right this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/it-all-depends-on-you-you-can-go-on-sleeping-forever-you-can-wake-up/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [This mind is a prison. It cannot find any freedom anywhere. It must die before freedom comes to you. But we have taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/this-mind-is-a-prison-it-cannot-find-any-freedom-anywhere-it-must-die/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Money should not be in the hands of individuals; otherwise it will create this problem of being burdened with guilt. And money can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/money-should-not-be-in-the-hands-of-individuals-otherwise-it-will/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Marriage is going to disappear, should disappear. And now the point is coming in the history of humanity where it becomes possible that marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/marriage-is-going-to-disappear-should-disappear-and-now-the-point-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A mature mind is one who understands the impossibility of knowing the ultimate, and with this understanding there is a new dimension: the dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/a-mature-mind-is-one-who-understands-the-impossibility-of-knowing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The word religion comes from an origin which means "coming together." But priesthood has been doing just the opposite, it has created splits in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-word-religion-comes-from-an-origin-which-means-coming-together/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Love and laughter go together; and laughter is one of the greatest medicines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/love-and-laughter-go-together-and-laughter-is-one-of-the-greatest/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [There are people who want to become rich; they become rich. If you persist you can fulfill any kind of stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/there-are-people-who-want-to-become-rich-they-become-rich-if-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Just take one thing out and the whole palace, the whole edifice of the human mind collapses. Take effort out of it and desiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/just-take-one-thing-out-and-the-whole-palace-the-whole-edifice-of-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [To me, man means awareness of death. I am not saying become afraid of death; that is not awareness. Just be aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/to-me-man-means-awareness-of-death-i-am-not-saying-become-afraid-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [So your life becomes a vital celebration, your relationship becomes a festive thing. Whatsoever you do, every moment is a festival. You eat, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-your-life-becomes-a-vital-celebration-your-relationship-becomes-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > ["Serenity" is the flavor of meditation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/serenity-is-the-flavor-of-meditation/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) [Explore all 1,885 Rajneesh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More Butterfly quotes > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [One day I decided I would like to put a record into my system. 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