WIST Quotations

Tagore, Rabindranath -- “Fireflies” (1926)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Faith is the bird that feels the light
And sings when the dawn is still dark.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
“Fireflies” (1926)

Full text.

Tagore, Rabindranath -- “Fireflies” (1926)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The Lord respects me when I work,
But He loves me when I sing.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
“Fireflies” (1926)
(Source)

Alt. trans.:
"God honours me when I work,
He loves me when I sing."

Tagore, Rabindranath -- “Fireflies” (1926)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
“Fireflies” (1926)

Full text.

Tagore, Rabindranath -- “Waiting,” Gitanjali (1913)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
“Waiting,” Gitanjali (1913)

Alt trans:
"The song I came to sing
remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing
and in unstringing my instrument."

"The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day,
I have spent my days in stringing and unstringing my instrument."

Sometimes titled "Song Unsung"

Full text.

Tagore, Rabindranath -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

You can’t cross the sea merely by staring at the water.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
(Attributed)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:22:56 +0000

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
(Attributed)

Alt trans:
"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come."
"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come."
"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come."
"Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle. It is the extinguishing of the flame because day is come."

Tagore, Rabindranath -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:39:44 +0000

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was duty.
I acted and behold, duty was joy.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
(Attributed)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:54:19 +0000

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
(Attributed)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Fireflies (1928)

Dave — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 17:23:55 +0000

Bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand
With a grip that kills it.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Fireflies (1928)
(Source)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Sādhanā : The Realisation of Life (1916)

Dave — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:09:27 +0000

Knowledge is partial, because our intellect is an instrument, it is only a part of us, it can give us information about things which can be divided and analysed, and whose properties can be classified part by part. But Brahma is perfect, and knowledge which is partial can never be a knowledge of him.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Sādhanā : The Realisation of Life (1916)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Sadhana: The Realization of Life, ch. 3 (1913)

Dave — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 13:34:03 +0000

When we watch a child trying to walk, we see its countless failures; its success are but few. If we had to limit our observation within a narrow space of time, the sight would be cruel. But we find that in spite of its repeated failures, there is an impetus of joy in the child which sustains it in its seemingly impossible task. We see it does not think of its falls so much as of its power to keep its balance though for only a moment.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Sadhana: The Realization of Life, ch. 3 (1913)
(Source)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds (1916)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

If you shut your door to all errors, truth will be shut out.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds (1916)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds (1916)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Praise shames me, for I secretly beg for it.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds (1916)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds (1916)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet tired of the man.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds (1916)

Alt. trans.: "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man."

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds (1916)

Dave — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:33:21 +0000

If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds (1916)

Full text.

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds (1916)

Dave — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:46:42 +0000

Let this be my last word, that I trust in thy love.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds (1916)

Full text.

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds, #296 (1914)

Dave — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:49:54 +0000

Blessed is he whose fame does not outshine his truth.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds, #296 (1914)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- Stray Birds, ch. 18 (1914)

Dave — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:23:03 +0000

What you are you do not see, what you see is your shadow.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Stray Birds, ch. 18 (1914)

Tagore, Rabindranath -- The Fourfold Way of India (1924)

Dave — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:19:04 +0000

The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of receiving it as guest.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
The Fourfold Way of India (1924)

Often paraphrased: "Truth comes as conqueror only to those who have lost the art of receiving it as friend."

Tagore, Rabindranath -- The Gardener, #85 (1915)

Dave — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:55:29 +0000

Who are you, reader, reading my poems an hundred years hence?

I cannot send you one single flower from this wealth of the spring, one single streak of gold from yonder clouds.

Open your doors and look abroad.

From your blossoming garden gather fragrant memories of the vanished flowers of an hundred years before.

In the joy of your heart may you feel the living joy that sang one spring morning, sending its glad voice across a hundred years.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
The Gardener, #85 (1915)
(Source)