--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have searched all over the world but…" description: "\"“I have searched all over the world but failed to see a virtue better than being well-behaved.”\" — Rumi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg" --- # I have searched all over the world but failed to see a… ![“I have searched all over the world but failed to see a virtue better than being well-behaved.” quote by Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg) > ““I have searched all over the world but failed to see a virtue better than being well-behaved.”” [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being well‑behaved is the highest virtue, surpassing all others. **In simple terms:** Good behavior is the greatest virtue. Key Takeaway Cultivate disciplined conduct. Themes virtue behaviour ethics Mood reflective motivational Type spiritual ethical When to use this quote - family life - workplace - community service Key Concepts moral excellence self‑discipline Questions to Reflect On - How does discipline affect your life? - What does being well‑behaved mean today? A Different Perspective Cultural context may differ on virtue definitions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Behaved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-behaved-986088/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Failed Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failed-virtue-2164414/) [Searched World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/searched-world-2164415/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtue Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue-better-1392761/) ## Related quotes > [Purpose ... is held to be most closely connected with virtue, and to be a better token of our character than are even our acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/purpose-is-held-to-be-most-closely-connected-with-virtue-and-to-be-a/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [She searched the world for true love. Finally she found him. When she stopped searching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-santana/she-searched-the-world-for-true-love-finally-she-found-him-when-she/) [Jason Santana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-santana/) > [“I've searched the world for all the right words and my mouth is full of nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/i-ve-searched-the-world-for-all-the-right-words-and-my-mouth-is-full/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [The poorer children were, to her mind, often better behaved, less whiny, more creative in making use of their own time, and have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/the-poorer-children-were-to-her-mind-often-better-behaved-less-whiny/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [“Encouraging virtue is better than suppressing vice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/encouraging-virtue-is-better-than-suppressing-vice/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [Back then we were better-behaved than you young boystoday; we were better instructed; so I start in my bestest French:Mademoiselle, from the first time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/back-then-we-were-better-behaved-than-you-young-boystoday-we-were/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [Really, trees are nearly as important as men, and much better behaved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/really-trees-are-nearly-as-important-as-men-and-much-better-behaved/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [“One will seem to promote virtue better by using encouragement and persuasion of speech than law and necessity. For it is likely that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/democritus/one-will-seem-to-promote-virtue-better-by-using-encouragement-and/) [Democritus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/democritus/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More by Rumi > [The love religion is all that is written here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-love-religion-is-all-that-is-written-here/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/and-so-it-is-that-both-the-devil-and-the-angelic-spirit-present-us/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-began-as-mineral-we-emerged-into-plant-life-and-into-the-animal/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is a morning inside you waiting to burst open into light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-a-morning-inside-you-waiting-to-burst-open-into-light/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Sometimes you hear a voice through the door calling you... This turning toward what you deeply love saves you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/sometimes-you-hear-a-voice-through-the-door-calling-you-this-turning/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“You’ve so distracted me, your absence fans my love. Don’t ask how. Then you come near. “Do not…” I say, and “Do not…,” you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-ve-so-distracted-me-your-absence-fans-my-love-don-t-ask-how-then/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Tis easy to break an idol, very easy: to regard the self as easy to subdue is folly, folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/tis-easy-to-break-an-idol-very-easy-to-regard-the-self-as-easy-to/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Today, let us swim wildly, joyously in gratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/today-let-us-swim-wildly-joyously-in-gratitude/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I have no name for what circles so perfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-no-name-for-what-circles-so-perfectly/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [What draws friends together does not conform to the laws of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/what-draws-friends-together-does-not-conform-to-the-laws-of-nature/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [We are born of love. Love is our mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-are-born-of-love-love-is-our-mother/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Water, stories, the body, all the things we do, are mediums that hid and show what's hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/water-stories-the-body-all-the-things-we-do-are-mediums-that-hid-and/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [If your heart isn't yet illumined Be awake always, be a seeker of the heart, Be at war continually with your carnal soul. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-your-heart-isn-t-yet-illumined-be-awake-always-be-a-seeker-of-the/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“I came back to You because I could not find the kind and decent things I found in You anywhere else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-came-back-to-you-because-i-could-not-find-the-kind-and-decent/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) [Explore all 1,818 Rumi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have searched all over the world but failed to see a virtue better than being well-behaved.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rumi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-failed-to-see-a-virtue-better/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-failed-to-see-a-virtue-better/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73c/rumi-56_character_i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-f_1817292.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have searched all over the world but failed to see a virtue better than being well-behaved.” — Rumi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rumi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I have searched all over the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-failed-to-see-a-virtue-better/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-searched-all-over-the-world-but-failed-to-see-a-virtue-better/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```