From the author of Gintajali and composer of India’s National Anthem, Rabindranath Tagore, a lot of inspiration and wisdom have come.
Rabindranath Tagore
He won the Nobel Prize for Literature, was a multitalented personality as he was a Bengali poet, Brahmo Samaj philosopher, visual artist, playwright, novelist, painter and a composer. So it seemed only fitted that I introduced him to you. Here is a just a small part of what this wonderful and wise soul has to teach the world.
39 Life-Changing Lessons to Learn from Rabindranath Tagore
1. Unless you have found God in your own soul, the whole world will seem meaningless to you.
“Unless you have found God in your own soul, the whole world will seem meaningless to you.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
2. Clouds come floating into your life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to your sunset sky.
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
3. Don’t let your tears prevent you from seeing the start after the sun has gone out of your life.
“If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
4. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door- or i’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.
“If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door- or i’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
5. 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 only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
6. Pray not to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
7. There is pain in this world but it is possible for you to transmute it into joy.
“The most important lesson that man can learn from life, is not that there is pain in this world, but that it is possible for him to transmute it into joy.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
8. My refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.
“Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live. ”~ Rabindranath Tagore
9. You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
10. “It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple.
“It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
11. By plucking her petals you do not gather the beauty of the flower.
“By plucking her petals you do not gather the beauty of the flower.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
12.. The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.
“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
13. Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
14. He who has the knowledge has the responsibility to impart it to the students.
“He who has the knowledge has the responsibility to impart it to the students.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
15. Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for she was born in another time.
“Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for she was born in another time.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
16. Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
“Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
17. Nothing is more beautiful or great than to perform the ordinary duties of one’s daily life simply and naturally.
“The more one lives alone on the river or in the open country, the clearer it becomes that nothing is more beautiful or great than to perform the ordinary duties of one’s daily life simply and naturally.”
18. A teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself.
“A teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame. The teacher who has come to the end of his subject, who has no living traffic with his knowledge but merely repeats his lesson to his students, can only load their minds, he cannot quicken them.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
19. The main object of teaching is not to give explanations, but to knock at the doors of the mind.
“The main object of teaching is not to give explanations, but to knock at the doors of the mind.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
20. The mind is itself the principal element of creation.
“Most people believe the mind to be a mirror, more or less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing on the contrary that the mind is itself the principal element of creation.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
21. Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it
“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
22. Love is an endless mystery, because there is no reasonable cause that could explain it.
“Love is an endless mystery, because there is no reasonable cause that could explain it.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
23. Love’s gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted.
“Love’s gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
24. Let us unite, not in spite of our differences, but through them.
“Let us unite, not in spite of our differences, but through them. For differences can never be wiped away, and life would be so much the poorer without them. Let all human races keep their own personalities, and yet come together, not in a uniformity that is dead, but in a unity that is living.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
25. Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins, first forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.
“Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God, first remove the darkness of sin from your heart.
Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer, first learn to bow in humility before your fellow men. Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees, first bend down to lift someone who is down trodden.
Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins, first forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
26. Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.
“Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
27. The greatest distance in this World is not that between living and death, it is when I am just before you, and you don’t know that I Love You.
“The greatest distance in this World is not that between living and death, it is when I am just before you, and you don’t know that I Love You.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
28. Great suffering brings with it the power of great endurance.
“Great suffering brings with it the power of great endurance. When sorrow is deepest all the forces of patience and courage are banded together to do their duty. So while we are cowards before petty troubles, great sorrows make us brave by rousing our truer manhood.”
29. The simple act of service is joy.
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
30. The human soul is on its journey from the law to love, from discipline to liberation, from the moral plane to the spiritual.
“The human soul is on its journey from the law to love, from discipline to liberation, from the moral plane to the spiritual.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
31. The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of receiving it as guest.
“The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of receiving it as guest.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
32. Love gives beauty to everything it touches.
“Love gives beauty to everything it touches.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
33. While God waits for His temple to be built of love, men bring stones.
“While God waits for His temple to be built of love, men bring stones.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
34. The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
“The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
35. The real friendship is like fluorescence, it shines better when everything has darken.
“The real friendship is like fluorescence, it shines better when everything has darken.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
36.Great wisdom is like the water in the sea: dark, mysterious, impenetrable
“The small wisdom is like water in a glass: clear, transparent, pure. The great wisdom is like the water in the sea: dark, mysterious, impenetrable.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
37. If you can find peace in yourself and can spread comfort around you, you will be happier than an empress.
“Great calm, generous detachment, selfless love, disinterested effort: these are what make for success in life. If you can find peace in yourself and can spread comfort around you, you will be happier than an empress.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
38. In life’s battles look for your own strength and the patience to win your freedom.
“Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield,But to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,But for the patience to win my freedom.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
39. The past is always with us, for nothing that once was time can ever depart.
“The past is always with us, for nothing that once was time can ever depart.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
Bonus:
“By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world.
But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs, and thout keepst me free.
Lest I forgot them they never venture to leave me alone. But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.
If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart, thy love for me still waits for my love.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
“Alas for our foolish human nature! Its fond mistakes are persistent. The dictates of reason take a long time to assert their own sway. The surest proofs meanwhile are disbelieved. False hope is clung to with all one’s might and main, till a day comes when it has sucked the heart dry and it forcibly breaks through its bonds and departs.
After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes.”
“The smile that flickers on a baby’s lips when he sleeps- does anyone know where it was born? Yes, there is a rumor that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
“Some day I shall sing to thee in the sunrise of some other world, I have seen thee before in the light of the earth, in the love of man.”
“Power said to the world,
“You are mine.”
The world kept it prisoner on her throne.
Love said to the world, “I am thine.”
The world gave it the freedom of her house.”
“When I go from hence, let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable.
I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus that expands on the ocean of light, and thus I am blessed—let this be my parting word.
In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play and here have I caught sight of him who is formless.
My whole body and my limbs have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch; and if the end comes here, let it come—let this be my parting word.”
“My dearest life, I know you are not mine forever; but do love me even if it’s for this moment. After that I shall vanish into the forest where you cast me, I won’t ask anyone for anything again. Give me something that can last me till I die.”
“The young student sits with his head bent over his books, and his mind straying in youth’s dreamland; where prose is prowling on the desk and poetry hiding in the heart.”~ Rabindranath Tagore
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action –
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
“Those who are near me do not know that you are nearer to me than they are
Those who speak to me do not know that my heart is full with your unspoken words
Those who crowd in my path do not know that I am walking alone with you
Those who love me do not know that their love brings you to my heart”
“It is not easy to get rid of weeds; but it is easy, by a process of neglect, to ruin your food crops and let them revert to their primitive state of wildness. […] In political civilization, the state is an abstraction and the relationship of men utilitarian.
Because it has no roots in sentiments, it is so dangerously easy to handle. Half a century has been enough for you to master this machine; and there are men among you, whose fondness for it exceeds their love for the living ideals which were born with the birth of your nation and nursed in your centuries. It is like a child who in the excitement of his play imagines he likes his playthings better than his mother.”
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