Flamma fumo est proxima.

A flame is nearest to smoke.
(Plautus, Curculio 53)

(pron = FLAHM-mah FOO-moh ehst PROHK-sih-mah)

Comment: This line from Plautus, of course, is almost identical to the English
saying "where there's smoke, there's fire".

It's really very common sense, and it insists that we pay attention to our
senses. Some of us need this advice more than others. If there is fire (or
anything that fire implies or symbolizes) where do you suppose it is coming
from--an area with a lot of smoke or an area with a lot of water?

The answer is so obvious as to appear ridiculous. How many times, though, have
we rather blindly ignored what was in front of us, only later to wonder how we
could have missed the obvious?

When I cling to what I want to see, hear or believe, it is almost impossible for
me to connect even the simplest of experiences, like the fire and the smoke.