Aphorisms and quotes by Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1941, thinker, poet, public figure.

In our quest for eternal life, we pray for the eternity of our usual foundations and well-being, forgetting that immortality lies in transgressing the limits of specific forms of life again and again in pursuit of the infinite truth of life.

There is no such thing in a family that spouses do not influence each other. Where there is love, this happens easily, but where there is no love, the use of violence causes what we call tragedy.

Man is immortal, which means he must die endlessly. For life is a creative idea and can only be realized in changing forms.

Death does not extinguish the light; she just turns off the lamp because it is morning.

The fountain of death sets in motion the stagnant water of life.

To seek refuge in death is death itself, and only to take upon oneself all the risks of life to the fullest extent is to live.

Close the door to all error and truth cannot enter.

He who uses his strength proves his weakness.

Pessimism is a form of mental alcoholism.

He who thinks too much about doing good has no time to be good.

The mind is sharp, but not broad; it jumps forward at every step, but cannot move forward.

Many people can say good things, but very few people can listen, because it requires mental strength.

A man is worse than an animal when he becomes an animal.

A lie can never grow into truth by growing in power.

Boundless hope and enthusiasm are the main wealth of young people.

In fact, it is often our moral strength that enables us to do evil very successfully.

A war where brother rebels against brother will be cursed a hundredfold by the Almighty.

The Almighty respected me as long as I could rebel, but when I fell at his feet, he neglected me.

The main thing that life teaches a person is not that there is suffering in the world, but that it depends on him whether he will turn suffering to his benefit, whether he will turn it into joy.

If you adhere to reasonable abstinence on the path to perfection, not a single trait of human character will suffer; on the contrary, they will all sparkle with even brighter colors.

There is a group of people who were born on earth only to talk about death. There is a peculiar beauty in the slow decay, like the beauty of the sky at sunset, and this fascinates them.

There is love that floats freely across the sky. This love warms the soul. And there is love that dissolves in everyday affairs. This love brings warmth to the family.

Life as a whole never takes death seriously. She laughs, dances and plays, she builds, collects and loves in the face of death. It is only when we isolate one single fact of death that we notice its emptiness and become embarrassed.

A person's life may be immoral, but this only means that it must have a moral basis.

Mature people who have experienced life regain their youth, but already free from passions.

...What a huge difference between the beautiful, free, unclouded world of nature, so calm, quiet and incomprehensible, and our everyday bustle, with its insignificant, sorrowful anxieties and disputes...

When in the spring our eyes are accidentally attracted to leaves, young and tender, like the fingers of forest goddesses, the soul is filled with delight.

When hearts are full of love and beat only from meeting to separation, a slight hint is enough to understand each other.

When any one religion has the pretension to force all mankind to accept its doctrine, it becomes a tyranny.

Of course, I could do without flowers, but they help me maintain self-respect, because they prove that I am not shackled hand and foot by everyday worries. They are evidence of my freedom.

Love is wealth, its passionate desires are not the complaints of a poor man. If God loves the one who worships him, God comes to his door to ask for alms.

People forget that marriage is an art and needs to be renewed every day.

It seems to me that I am like a living planet and also enclosed in a circle of ideas. But I am not only what I desire, what I think about, what I decide. And also what I don’t like, what I don’t want. I was created before I was born. I couldn't choose myself. Therefore, I must take advantage of what fell into my hands.

Many fools consider marriage to be a simple union. That is why this union is so neglected after the wedding.

Sages, men of science break through the thickness of knowledge, Achieving eternal glory through constancy and daring.

We know a person not by what he knows, but by what he rejoices in

We rejoice when we comprehend the truth. If there is no joy, this means that we are only familiar with the truth, but have not been able to comprehend it.

Being mired in pleasures, we cease to feel any pleasure.

The Beautiful is the complete expression of the Good. Good is the complete expression of the Beautiful.

…The family is the basic unit of any society and any civilization.

No matter how happy a wine drunk may feel, he is far from true happiness, because for him it is happiness, for others it is grief; today it is happiness, tomorrow it is misfortune.

Suffering is our heavy payment for everything that is valuable in this life - for strength, for wisdom, for love.

Suffering symbolizes the endless possibility of improvement, the constant discovery of joy.

Suffering is the true wealth of imperfect creatures like us; it has exalted us and made us worthy to take our place next to the perfect ones.

Happiness is given only to those who are restrained. If you want your wishes to come true, learn to restrain them.

What is immoral is in fact not moral enough, because there is some truth in untruths, otherwise it could not even be called untruth.

The mind is sharp, but not broad; it jumps forward at every step, but cannot move forward.

Login to the site

It is easy to be bold in words when you are not going to tell the whole truth.

Loyalty in love requires abstinence, but only with its help can one learn the innermost charm of love.

The Almighty respected me as long as I could rebel, but when I fell at his feet, he neglected me.

Even a gang of robbers must comply with some moral requirements in order to remain a gang; they can rob the whole world, but not each other.

There is love that floats freely across the sky. This love warms the soul. And there is love that dissolves in everyday affairs. This love brings warmth to the family.

Stars are not afraid of being mistaken for fireflies.

Crying for the sun, you don't notice the stars.

I have stars in the sky... but I miss so much the little lamp that is not lit in my house.

When hearts are full of love and beat only from meeting to separation, a slight hint is enough to understand each other.

He who thinks too much about doing good has no time to be good.

People forget that marriage is an art and needs to be renewed every day.

Many people can say good things, but very few people can listen, because it requires mental strength.

We slam the door in the face of mistakes, the truth is in confusion: “How will I get in now?”

The Beautiful is the complete expression of the Good. Good is the complete expression of the Beautiful.

That I exist is a constant miracle for me: this is life.

The grass is looking for crowds of its own kind on the earth; the tree looks for its loneliness in the sky.

The fountain of death makes the still waters of life play.

The aspirations of our life appear to us in the form of children.

A man is worse than an animal when he becomes an animal.

Thank the Flame for its light, but do not forget the Lamp standing in the shadows with constant patience.

In fact, it is often our moral strength that enables us to do evil very successfully.

Everything infinite finds its end.

The dry river is not thanked for its past.

If you adhere to reasonable abstinence on the path to perfection, not a single trait of human character will suffer; on the contrary, they will all sparkle with even brighter colors.

And a stalk of grass is worthy of the great world in which it grows.

When any one religion has the pretension to force all mankind to accept its doctrine, it becomes a tyranny.

A lie can never grow into truth by growing in power.

By tearing off the petals of a flower, you do not gain its beauty.

Pessimism is a form of mental alcoholism; it rejects healthy drinks and is carried away by the intoxicating wine of reproach; it plunges him into painful despondency, from which he seeks salvation in an even stronger intoxication.

Being mired in pleasures, we cease to feel any pleasure.

No matter how happy a wine drunk may feel, he is far from true happiness, because for him it is happiness, for others it is grief; today it is happiness, tomorrow it is misfortune.

He who uses his strength proves his weakness.

“You are a big drop of dew under the lotus leaf, and I am a small drop on its upper side,” Rosinka said to the Lake.

The mind is sharp, but not broad; it jumps forward at every step, but cannot move forward.

Even if the misfortune is bitter, be your soul strong, Heed the eternal call, Conquer your fear, and the hardships of the earth will fall to dust.

About family

The following words of the writer refer to the family:

The family is the basic unit of any society and any civilization.

The role of family has always been important to human society. It is in it that those moral and ideological qualities of a person are laid that will determine his entire future life. It is on how morally healthy each individual family is that the morality of the entire society will depend.

The family influences the course of events in society. It is in it, as if in a mirror, that all the main processes relating to the economic, social, and demographic spheres are reflected.

Rabindranath Tagore (Thakur Robindronath) was born on May 6, 1861 in Calcutta. Indian poet, writer, composer, philosopher, educator, public figure. Died on August 6, 1941 in Calcutta.

Aphorisms, quotes, sayings, phrases Tagore Rabindranath

A man is worse than a beast when he is a beast.
Everything infinite finds its end.
The water in the vessel is clear; the water in the sea is dark.
Stars are not afraid of being mistaken for fireflies.
The noises of moments mock the music of the eternal.
The river of truth flows through the channels of error.
Happiness lies in giving your heart to someone else.
The fountain of death makes the still waters of life play.
Blessed is he whose glory does not shine brighter than his truth.
The dust of dead words has stuck to you. Wash your soul in silence.
The web pretends to catch dewdrops, but itself catches flies.
And a stalk of grass is worthy of the great world in which it grows.
Smoke boasts to Heaven, and Ash to Earth, that they are brother and sister to Fire!
Close the door to all error and truth cannot enter.
That I exist is a constant miracle for me: this is life.
A mind in which everything is logical is like a blade in which everything moves forward.
Truth against itself raises a storm that scatters its seeds widely.
When a leaf falls in love, it becomes a flower. When a flower is loved, it becomes a fruit.
The brighter individuality manifests itself, the more it strives for unity with all that exists.
Thank the Flame for its light, but do not forget the Lamp standing in the shadows with constant patience.
When hearts are full of love and beat only from meeting to separation, a slight hint is enough to understand each other.
When any one religion has the pretension to force all mankind to accept its doctrine, it becomes a tyranny.
I accumulated wisdom for many years, persistently comprehended good and evil, I accumulated so much junk in my heart that my heart became too heavy.
Even a gang of robbers must comply with some moral requirements in order to remain a gang; they can rob the whole world, but not each other.
No matter how happy a wine drunk may feel, he is far from true happiness, because for him it is happiness, for others it is grief; today it is happiness, tomorrow it is misfortune.
There is love that floats freely across the sky. This love warms the soul. And there is love that dissolves in everyday affairs. This love brings warmth to the family.
Life as a whole never takes death seriously. She laughs, dances and plays, she builds, collects and loves in the face of death. It is only when we isolate one single fact of death that we notice its emptiness and become embarrassed.
It seems to me that I am like a living planet and also enclosed in a circle of ideas. But I am not only what I desire, what I think about, what I decide. And also what I don’t like, what I don’t want. I was created before I was born. I couldn't choose myself. Therefore, I must take advantage of what fell into my hands.

About pessimism

The following quote by Rabindranath Tagore compares the habit of seeing only the negative aspects of life with an addiction to alcohol:

Pessimism is a form of mental alcoholism.

It is difficult to disagree with this definition of an Indian writer. Indeed, in many ways, these two addictions - alcoholism and negativism - are very similar. When a person becomes dependent on alcohol, he can no longer live without it. He needs a new dose of alcohol every day. It's the same with sadness. Accustomed to seeing only the bad in life, a person eventually turns into an inveterate pessimist. Every day he grumbles and complains.

There is another point of contact between alcoholism and pessimism, the connection between which is described in this quote by Rabindranath Tagore. A person who drinks alcohol ceases to adequately assess reality. Just like a pessimist. He sees everything only in dark colors, and this prevents him from sensibly assessing the state of things.

A little biography

Before looking at Rabindranath Tagore's quotes, it is useful to know a little information about his life journey. Tagore was born in Calcutta on May 7, 1861. His family was rich and famous. Rabindranath was the 14th child. His mother died when he was 14 years old. This sad event left a deep imprint on the teenager’s soul.

Rabindranath began composing poems at the age of 8. He received a good education, studying at several private schools, including the Bengal Academy. Rabindranath traveled around northern India for several months and was very impressed by the local beauty.

At the age of 17, Tagore published his first epic poem, The Story of Sweat. Another event happened that same year - he went to London to begin studying law. After staying there for exactly a year, Tagore returned to India and began to write.

In 1883 he married and also published a second collection of poetry, Morning Songs. The first was released in 1882 under the title "Evening Song".

In 1899, Rabindranath, at the request of his father, took over the responsibility of managing the family estate in eastern Bengal. Local landscapes left indelible impressions on the poet’s soul and became the main object of his work of that period. This stage is considered the flowering of Rabindranath’s poetic talent. The collections of poems “The Golden Boat” (1894) and “The Moment” (1900) gained great popularity.

In 1915, Rabindranath Tagore, whose quotes will be discussed below, was awarded a knighthood. However, later, for political reasons, the poet refused him.

Since 1912, he traveled extensively throughout America, Europe, and the Middle East. Throughout his life, Tagore suffered from various illnesses. In 1937, he lost consciousness, after which he was in a coma for some time. In 1940, his condition worsened, and on August 7, 1941, he died.

In his homeland, Tagore enjoyed great success. Modern anthems of India, as well as Bangladesh, were written based on his poems.

About silence

This quote by Rabindranath Tagore talks about how you can purify your own soul:

The dust of dead words has stuck to you: wash your soul with silence.

Silence is a spiritual practice that has existed since time immemorial in various religions: Buddhism, Christianity, various religious movements of the East. The vow of silence has always been the prerogative of monks and clergy, with its help they dedicated their souls to the Lord. However, sometimes holding back the flow of words is a wise decision for ordinary people.

The practice referred to in the above quote from Rabindranath Tagore refers primarily to the silence of the soul. Conversations take up a large amount of energy that a person could use for more noble purposes. For example, for self-development.

Silence is an excellent way to cope with internal discord and restore spiritual strength. Therefore, this quote from the Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore will be of interest to anyone who would like to achieve the purification of their soul through silence.