A man said to a dervish: ‘Why do I not see you more often?’. The dervish replied, ‘Because the words ‘Why have you not been to see me?’ are sweeter to my ear than the words ‘Why have you come again?”.

—Mulla Shami

Absence diminishes minor passions and inflames great ones, as the wind douses a candle and fans a fire.

—La Rochefoucauld