Better to starve than. Is it better to be alone than with just anyone? Eternal quotes from the great poet and one of the most famous eastern sages and philosophers

Over the many millennia of human existence on earth, universal human culture has accumulated a wealth of knowledge in the field of the peculiarities of relationships between members of society. As one of the eastern sages said, “It is better to starve than to eat anything,” it is better to remain alone than to communicate with the unworthy.

Who said these words?

The words “It is better to starve than to eat anything”, “it is better to be alone than among people unequal to you” belong to the pen of the famous oriental poet Omar Khayyam.

He was originally from Persia, lived about a thousand years ago, and glorified himself as a famous mathematician and astronomer. Throughout his life, Omar Khayyam wrote short quatrains, which were called rubai.

In these verses he expressed his life philosophy. Being a poet of Muslim culture, he did not share some of the tenets of this religion: he was skeptical about the divine plan of Allah, indulged in pessimism, observing examples of injustice and vice in front of him.

Philosophy of the Eastern poet

In its own way life position he is most likely close to the figures of the Renaissance, who also sought with their whole lives to prove the right of man to independently build his own destiny and change the world around him.

As a matter of fact, Omar Khayyam’s poems received a kind of “rebirth” precisely in the Western world, when they began to be translated into English language one of the Western poets. Thanks to interest in the personality of the distant Persian author, his mathematical and astronomical achievements were rediscovered, so today the name of this man is known to any educated lover of literature.

“It’s better to starve than to eat anything”: is it better to be alone? What does this phrase mean?

The Little Rubai of O. Khayyam, which states that you need to carefully choose your circle of friends, has been the subject of controversy for quite some time. After all, man is a social being, he lives in communication with his own kind, so loneliness is often unbearable for him.

Why does the ancient poet offer solitude as a saving island of peace for each of us?

Let's try to answer this question.

Note that this poem (as the work of a true philosopher) contains a logical dilemma: “to be with just anyone” or “to be alone” (let’s quote the last line of the poem: “It’s better to be alone than with just anyone”).

Of course, there is a worthy alternative: rather than communicate with those who will never understand or appreciate you, isn’t it better to remain silent and reflective? After all, this option will be the best for everyone, isn’t it?

Sometimes O. Khayyam is accused of excessive arrogance, because his phrase: “It is better to starve than to eat anything” does not make anyone better. What? Is the poet really calling us to abstain from food?

No, he most likely teaches us to be picky about food (which is generally very relevant for us people of the 21st century). It is better to go hungry than to eat GMO foods, it is better to abstain from food than to eat goods from McDonald's.

You need to be picky in food and in choosing friends, then serious illnesses will not await you and the people who are next to you will not betray you in difficult times.

The poet is right after all. And this is wisdom coming from the depths of centuries.

How relevant is Eastern wisdom today?

And aphorisms are always relevant - both 1000 years ago and today, in our age of computer technology. A person remains a person, therefore the quiet rubai of O. Khayyam will always find their reader. And in our time, when short statements are perceived much better than the multi-volume works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, even more so.

Therefore, read the immortal Persian poet and enjoy his works! And most importantly, look for a circle of true friends who would understand and appreciate you!

April 16, 2016

The saying “it’s better to be alone than with just anyone” is very true for modern world. Because people are afraid to be left alone, women over the age of thirty strive to “jump out” to get married as soon as possible, just so as not to remain old maids, someone simply does not notice these “just anyone”. But the point is that such communication ends in tears. It has long been experimentally proven that we begin to behave like our surroundings. Therefore, it is better to be alone than with just anyone. Why get involved in bad company to avoid loneliness? This is stupid to say the least.

Who are these "just anyone"

Bad companies are those that not only will not bring anything good into your life, but will also make it even worse. At first it seems to you that you are alone, and new friends break up the boring routine. Do you know about any bad habits acquaintances, but don’t attach any importance to it. And then gradually you yourself begin to be drawn into them, directing your life towards the abyss. It’s better to be alone than with just anyone, why doom yourself to misfortune by running away from loneliness? Moreover, it's not that bad. Some can't wait to be alone with themselves, calm down, and relax. So you should learn to enjoy every minute of your life.

“It’s better to be alone than with just anyone,” they say to bachelors who want to quickly find family happiness. In the pursuit of love, sometimes some of a person’s disadvantages and shortcomings are completely lost sight of. You look, something seems wrong, but it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re not alone. And then only over time comes the understanding that it would be better to never have met this person.

How to be?

Don't run after communication that will have a detrimental effect on you. Wise people they know that it is better to be alone than with just anyone. Don't run away from loneliness, it also has its advantages. Omar Khayyam even wrote a poem dedicated to this topic. For you, such a solution to the problem creates even greater failures, which are much more difficult to correct.

Remember these “golden words” that it is better to be alone than with just anyone, and act wisely, then happiness will find you!

Source: fb.ru

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Everyone knows the well-worn lines of Omar Khayyam: “In order to live your life wisely, you need to know not a little, two important rules remember for starters: you’d rather starve than eat anything, and it’s better to be alone than with just anyone.” People make them the slogan of their lives. But does this bring happiness, that’s the question...

In my opinion, the statement is controversial. I don’t want to argue with the great eastern sage, but simply look at this statement from the point of view of today’s reality. It's great to be an idealist, to wait great love, in which everything will be fine, eat only healthy and quality products, but not everyone can afford it, by the way. Let's face it.

It seems to me that there is a need to write a rubaiyat refutation of this well-worn truth, which is adopted by those who do not want to work on relationships and live in a fictitious ideal world. And he suffers from this, by the way, because this world, invented by Khayyam and presented as the ultimate truth, is not at all similar to what actually surrounds us.

But what really?

When I read this rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, I imagine him. And I understand that he himself probably wrote these lines in a moment of disappointment and pain, from a bitter understanding of the impossibility of changing the world and making it perfect. Maybe even out of anger and powerlessness to achieve your unrealistic dream. But in the end, the result was an ideal formula, which many people have made the principle of their lives.

By the way, the “king of the philosophers of the East and West” was born into a family of artisans and would never have gone overboard with grub, and, like all other artisans, would have eaten “whatever,” that is, what he could get if he had not been invited to the palace Sultan Malik Shah as a close confidant. The Sultan entrusted the astronomer with the construction of the world's largest observatory and allowed him to study mathematics and poetry. Simply fabulous ideal conditions! Why not come up with the ideal formula for a wise life.

But Khayyam was “the most learned man of the century”, “the wisest of the sages”... Can we boast of the same? Most of us are the same artisan who makes tents and not every day has caviar to spread on bread and butter. Finally, face the truth and stop measuring yourself by the ideal standards of the Eastern sage.

What do we really have?
Crowds of completely imperfect, uncomfortable, unpleasant, alien and dubious personalities.
Poor quality food: genetically modified, nitrate, artificial, surrogate, expired, poisoned.
Disgusting environment.
Difficult relationships with people (almost everyone, even the good ones at first glance).
Imperfection of the world, people, oneself.
The fight for survival is direct and figuratively a word that does not add empathy to people.
The race for money, status, prestige, fame is an eternal competition and clash of interests.

By the way, the Sultan offered Omar Khayyam to become the ruler of his hometown Nishapura. But the far-sighted sage, knowing full well that he would have to deal with everyday city problems and their solutions, with people, simple and imperfect, who were different from his rich and powerful patrons, refused this offer. Who knows how the life of a sage would have turned out if he had not been lucky enough to befriend strongmen of the world This is why he would have remained a poet among ordinary artisans.

Categoricalism and maximalism or tolerance and tolerance?

Even more difficult than with the quality of food, the situation is with the people who surround us. With those whom we do not choose (our relatives) and with those with whom we connect our lives, once calling them loved ones. Unfortunately, humanity has nothing special to boast about in the area of ​​improvement. Of course, we are already a little more cultured than the Neanderthals, but there is enough wildness in our lives. And at the most ordinary everyday level. We ourselves can easily be classified as those whom Omar Khayyam in his poem calls “just anyone.”

Ideal people don't exist and that's wonderful, in my opinion. Every person who surrounds us, at least someday, will fall into the category of unnecessary, inconvenient, uncomfortable for someone. Why should we not live now? Isolate ourselves from each other and wait for ideal partners and perfect relationships? The same eastern sage, in another poem, again states maximalistically: “Whoever lives with a tit in his hands will definitely not find his firebird.” Thank you, grandfather Khayyam. I sealed it! “Surely he won’t find it?!” Tick ​​your tongue, old man! You're cutting off all our wings.

Following this advice, you can spend your whole life chasing the mythical crane, without ever realizing that the tit that was offered to be held in your hands and which seemed gray and insignificant was our real crane. Sometimes it happens!

Or maybe we should not chase after cranes, but after love. For warmth and consonance, for people to whom we could give part of our soul and help become happy. Let these tits, in someone’s opinion, not seem so brilliant, influential and tall, but they will be people close to us.

Love and friendship are not a search for pleasant people, it is a closeness in which everything can be: joy and happiness, pleasant and not so pleasant moments, kind and not so pleasant moments. good words and actions.

Love is not an ideal beautiful fairy tale that brings only joy and lightness, it is life itself with all its difficulties, contradictions, mistakes and doubts. Love is never perfect, but if it is in your heart, even the greatest difficulties can be overcome.

Love gives us faith in ourselves and people, no matter how imperfect they may be. By the way, sometimes we love even more those who are far from ideal. We love them not because they fly like cranes. But simply because they exist in the world. Sometimes it is difficult to explain why we love them. But this is the only thing that makes us truly wise and happy.

Poor thing, did he think that everyone would suddenly take his rubai into service in the literal sense and use them to justify their inability to communicate with people and be tolerant of them. I should ask Khayyam: “What if my loved one does something unpleasant for me, behaves like a “whoops”, offends, plays the fool, splashes the toilet... Should I immediately write him down? Throw you out of your life and starve alone again?”

I wonder what the old man would answer...

That adequate and decent people are left alone, having decided that they have had enough, and they no longer intend to test their potential partners and possible spouses for the presence of healthy mental and moral qualities. And those normal people who have not yet despaired have to deal with those remaining in the game, only to then despair in the same way and give up on finding a worthy life partner.

The same question, however, can be asked of girls who are ready to jump headlong into bed with anyone, and then cry that men are irresponsible, force them to have an abortion or leave them alone with the child. What do you need your own head, complete with eyes and brain? Haven’t you seen what a person strives for, what he needs from life and from you? Were you hoping to remake it? Did you think everything would be okay? In vain.

It is clear that sometimes the person from whom you least expect it turns out to be capable of meanness. But still, usually these actions are quite predictable, if you look at what a person is like as a person. Not the way he looks. Not by how much he earns. Only on who he is, what he is worth as a person, what his words and intentions are worth.

No, you haven't bothered me, people who don't rely primarily on reason and objective reality. I was the same myself, but, fortunately, the necessary life lessons I learned it quite early. I didn’t have time to be disappointed in all the men, but I managed to understand: before you start living and sleeping together, you need to look at the person for a very long time and carefully, without succumbing to impulses of passion and recklessness. It saddens me to look at your broken destinies and forced cynicism.

Please don't despair, believe in the best. Don’t forget to think, look closely, analyze, draw conclusions based on facts, and not on your unfounded hopes that everything will be fine on its own without your efforts. And here’s some more good advice from Omar Khayyam:

To live your life wisely, you need to know a lot,
Remember two important rules to get started:
You'd rather starve than eat anything
And it’s better to be alone than with just anyone.

To live your life wisely, you need to know a lot,
Remember two important rules to get started:
You'd rather starve than eat anything
And it’s better to be alone than with just anyone.
To grow an escape of despondency in the soul is a crime,
Until the entire book of pleasure has been read
Seize the joys and drink wine greedily:
Life is short, alas! Her moments fly by.
Communicating with a fool will not lead to shame,
Therefore, listen to Khayyam’s advice:
Take the poison offered to you by the sage,
Don’t take balm from the hands of a fool!!!

To live your life wisely, you need to know a lot.
Remember two important rules to get started:
It's better to starve than to eat anything,
And it’s better to be alone than with just anyone!!!

Today, “rebelling against society” means not sleeping around, reading books, playing sports and being well-mannered.

I think it's better to be alone
How to give the heat of the soul to “someone”?
Having given away a priceless gift to just anyone,
Once you meet your loved one, you will not be able to fall in love.

Don't try to seem better than you are. Don't try to seem worse than you are. After all, those who seem to not exist at all.

Life is so short, so you shouldn’t waste long conversations “about nothing” with those who won’t bring any benefit or benefit to your life.

There is an excellent English expression- Less is more. It translates roughly like this: “Less is better.” It's better to be left alone than to suffocate with someone.

Imagine what would happen to your body if you ate everything that came your way. So be smart - don’t “eat” just anything.