Browse quotations by Rabindranath Tagore with named works, context notes, meanings and recurring themes.
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“hope for the patience to win my freedom.”
Freedom is paired with patient hope rather than anxious rescue, suggesting that endurance and inner steadiness are part of the desired liberation.
Fruit-Gathering, poem LXXIX; Project Gutenberg #6522. This excerpt completes a prayer against anxious craving to be saved and retains that spiritual context.
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them.”
The prayer asks not for the removal of danger but for courage within it, shifting the desired response from guaranteed safety toward steadiness under difficulty.
Fruit-Gathering, poem LXXIX, translated by Tagore from Bengali; Project Gutenberg #6522. The line is explicitly prayer language and should not be read as advice to ignore real safety precautions.
“I live in the hope of meeting with him”
The speaker continues to wait in hope despite an unfulfilled meeting, making expectation itself part of the devotional life rather than proof that fulfillment has already arrived.
Gitanjali, poem 13; Project Gutenberg #7164. The “him” is the poem’s spiritual addressee, so the record preserves devotional context instead of converting the sentence into a secular promise.
“And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions”
Tagore connects devotion with conduct: inward belief is meant to become visible through what a person actually does rather than remain only an interior feeling.
Gitanjali, poem 4, in Tagore’s own prose translations from Bengali; Project Gutenberg #7164. The omitted continuation explicitly attributes the strength to act to the divine addressee, so the line remains religious rather than generic productivity advice.
“MAN is a born child, his power is the power of growth.”
Tagore defines human power through continued capacity to develop, using childhood as an image of openness to change rather than completed maturity.
Stray Birds, aphorism 25, translated by Tagore from Bengali; Project Gutenberg #6524. The compact line is poetic-philosophical and is not presented as a modern developmental-psychology claim.
“O BEAUTY, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.”
Beauty is located in relationship and love rather than self-admiring reflection, pushing worth away from flattering appearance alone and toward a less self-enclosed measure.
Stray Birds, aphorism 28, Project Gutenberg #6524, translated from Bengali by Tagore himself. ‘O BEAUTY, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror’ is a compact personified poetic aphorism placed between numbered sayings 27 and 29. It should not be flattened into a literal rule about appearance, self-worth or relationships.
“Thy breath comes to me whispering an impossible hope.”
Longing for what seems beyond reach still carries a form of hope, even while the speaker openly recognizes distance, limitation and uncertainty.
The Gardener, poem 5, translated by Tagore from Bengali; Project Gutenberg #6686. The poem repeatedly addresses the “Great Beyond” and “Far-to-seek,” so the hope is lyrical longing rather than a factual prediction.
“Trust love even if it brings sorrow. Do not close up your heart.”
The advice refuses to make sorrow a reason for emotional withdrawal, presenting openness to love as worthwhile even when attachment can also bring pain.
The Gardener, poem 27; Project Gutenberg #6686. This is dialogue within a lyric sequence, and the surrounding exchange explicitly pairs love with tears and enduring sorrow.
