Quotes from Rabindranath Tagore

The water vessel, taken as a vessel only, raises the question, "Why does it exist at all?" Through its fitness of construction, it offers the apology for its existence. But where it is a work of beauty it has no question to answer; it has nothing to do, but to be.

In pleasure and in pain I stand not by the side of men, and thus stand by thee. I shrink to give up my life, and thus do not plunge into the great waters of life.

Clothed in facts truth feels oppressed. In the garb of poetry it moves easy and free.

Such lavish devotion made me proud to think that the wealth was all my own which drove you to my gate. But vanity such as this only checks the flow of free surrender in a woman's love. When I sit on he queen's throne and claim homage, then the claim only goes on magnifying itself; it is never satisfied. Can there be any real happiness for a woman in merely feeling that she has power over a man? To surrender one's pride in devotion is woman's only salvation.

truth and falsehood mingle in life—and to what God builds, man adds his own decoration.

That which oppresses me, is it my soul trying to come out in the open, or the soul of the world knocking at my heart for its entrance?

Do not blame your food because you have no appetite.

They come from my imagination; for, as you know, truth is silent, and it is imagination only which waxes eloquent. Reality represses the flow of feeling like a rock; imagination cuts out a path for itself.

I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure. Here I give back the keys of my door---and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you. We were neighbours for long, but I received more than I could give. Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.

On the day when death will knock at thy door what wilt thou offer to him? Oh, I will set before my guest the full vessel of my life---I will never let him go with empty hands. All the sweet vintage of all my autumn days and summer nights, all the earnings and gleanings of my busy life will I place before him at the close of my days when death will knock at my door.

Their real freedom is not within the boundaries of security, but in the highroad of adventures, full of the risk of new experiences

Man can destroy and plunder, earn and accumulate, invent and discover, but he is great because his soul comprehends all.

Let your love see me even through the barrier of nearness.

WE come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. 58

Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.

CHASTITY is a wealth that comes from abundance of love. 74

Travolti dal torrente dell'incertezza, i nostri sogni hanno teso le braccia Per afferrare la terra. In mattoni e pietra si irrigidiscono i loro sogni e così sono state costruite le città dell'uomo.

The fact is that man is as much a mystery to woman as woman is to man. If that were not so, the separation of the sexes would only have been a waste of Nature's energy.

Passing Breeze" Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love, O beloved of my heart—-this golden light that dances upon the leaves, these idle clouds sailing across the sky, this passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead. The morning light has flooded my eyes—-this is thy message to my heart. Thy face is bent from above, thy eyes look down on my eyes, and my heart has touched thy feet.

The sands of desert may be very white and shiny, but I would much rather sow my seeds in black soil.

human society is a web of mistakes; nobody has the sense to do the right thing at the right time, and when the chance is gone we break our hearts over vain longings.

The highest mission of education is to help us to realise the inner principle of the unity of all knowledge and all the activities of our social and spiritual being.

Where one loves, one can follow without agreeing—one can surrender oneself with eyes open.

Is it true, is it true, that your love travelled alone through ages and worlds in search of me?