--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Paradise is surrounded by what we…" description: "\"Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of hell are surrounded by what we desire.\" — Rumi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg" --- # Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of… ![“Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of hell are surrounded by what we desire.” quote by Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg) > “Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of hell are surrounded by what we desire.” [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. Contrasting bliss and torment, the quote suggests that what we love can become our downfall, while what we reject may protect us. **In simple terms:** Desire can trap; rejection can shield. Key Takeaway Beware of unchecked cravings. Themes desire temptation spirituality Mood reflective serious Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - relationships - financial decisions - health habits - career choices Key Concepts dualism self‑control karma Questions to Reflect On - What desires have you let guide you? - How can you turn aversion into growth? A Different Perspective It oversimplifies moral complexity of human motivation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise/) ## Related quotes > [“He had forgotten that his paradise was surrounded by hell itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-lix-j-palma/he-had-forgotten-that-his-paradise-was-surrounded-by-hell-itself/) [Félix J. Palma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-lix-j-palma/) > [“God. He was beautiful. A beautiful, troubled man forged by the fires of hell, ravaged by monsters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/god-he-was-beautiful-a-beautiful-troubled-man-forged-by-the-fires-of/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [God hides the fires of hell within paradise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/god-hides-the-fires-of-hell-within-paradise/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The fires of hell are not hot enough for a man—or woman!—who would hurt his children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/the-fires-of-hell-are-not-hot-enough-for-a-man-or-woman-who-would/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [“Why did everyone always paint love as pretty rainbows and happily ever afters? It wasn't any of that. To love was to feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mccarthy/why-did-everyone-always-paint-love-as-pretty-rainbows-and-happily/) [Kate McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mccarthy/) > [“There are too many tears in my eyes! The fires of Hell are no more than sparks of fire as compared to the flames…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/there-are-too-many-tears-in-my-eyes-the-fires-of-hell-are-no-more/) [Omar Khayyám](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) > [“I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/i-was-walking-among-the-fires-of-hell-delighted-with-the-enjoyments/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-hottest-fires-in-hell-are-reserved-for-those-who-remain-neutral/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Often times, none but the devil know your pain. I speak not of the fires of hell, but the fall from heaven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-edward-lee-miller/often-times-none-but-the-devil-know-your-pain-i-speak-not-of-the/) [Cody Edward Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-edward-lee-miller/) > [“The devil danced at the gates of heaven as angels swam naked in the fires of hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-elyon/the-devil-danced-at-the-gates-of-heaven-as-angels-swam-naked-in-the/) [Kristin Elyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-elyon/) > [A match made in heaven set the fires in hell..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/a-match-made-in-heaven-set-the-fires-in-hell/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [“All the fires of hell could burn for a thousand years and it wouldn't equal what I feel for you in one minute of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/all-the-fires-of-hell-could-burn-for-a-thousand-years-and-it-wouldn-t/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [“As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels looked like torment and insanity, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/as-i-was-walking-among-the-fires-of-hell-delighted-with-the-2/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" she gritted. "The kitchen? The sewers? The fires of hell?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-ivy/don-t-you-have-somewhere-you-need-to-be-she-gritted-the-kitchen-the/) [Alexandra Ivy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-ivy/) > [As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/as-i-was-walking-among-the-fires-of-hell-delighted-with-the/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## 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 Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of hell are surrounded by what we desire.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rumi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislike-the-fires-of-hell-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislike-the-fires-of-hell-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/rumi-56_desire_paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislik_2050259.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Paradise is surrounded by what we dislike; the fires of hell are surrounded by what we desire.” — 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": "Paradise is surrounded by what we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislike-the-fires-of-hell-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/paradise-is-surrounded-by-what-we-dislike-the-fires-of-hell-are/#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 } } ] } ```