Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Thakur

1861-1941 • Indian

HinduismBhaktiPerennial Philosophy

Bengali polymath, poet, philosopher and the first non-European Nobel laureate in Literature (1913). His Gitanjali offered the West a luminous window into Indian spirituality, and his songs and verse remain woven into the soul of Bengal.

Key Works

  • Gitanjali
  • Stray Birds
  • Sadhana
  • The Crescent Moon
  • Fireflies
108

quotes in library

Quotes by Rabindranath Tagore

108 quotes
When I give coloured toys to you, my child.
loveThe Crescent Moon
Sleep that flits on baby's eyes, does anybody know from where it comes?
mysteryThe Crescent Moon
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet with shouts and dances.
joyThe Crescent Moon
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
beautyStray Birds
The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies.
humilityStray Birds
If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
acceptanceStray Birds
It is the tears of the earth that keep her smiles in bloom.
beautyStray Birds
I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad I have had my flight.
joyStray Birds
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them.
courageFruit-Gathering
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.
courageFruit-Gathering
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
patienceFruit-Gathering
Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling your mercy in my success alone; but let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.
humilityFruit-Gathering
Where roads are made I lose my way.
seekingFruit-Gathering
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish — no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.
eternityFruit-Gathering
Bid me and I shall gather my fruits to bring them in full baskets into your courtyard, though some are lost and some not ripe.
offeringFruit-Gathering
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon. I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
selfFruit-Gathering
I have lost touch with the marrow of my own life, and I beg of you to take this dust to your light.
surrenderFruit-Gathering
Bigness is not greatness; vast extent is not infinity.
wisdomSadhana
It is the function of religion not to destroy our nature but to fulfil it.
religionSadhana
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