Discovering Yourself

Excerpts from the book by Rabindranath Tagore

What you are you do not see, what you see is your shadow.

They throw their shadows before them who carry their lantern on their back.

"We, the rusting leaves, have a voice that answers the storms, but who are you, so silent?"  – "I am a mere flower."

Man is a born child, his power is the power of growth.

O Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.  >>>

Life finds its wealth by the claims of the world, and its worth by the claims of love.

Do not blame your food because you have no appetite.

God finds himself by → creating.  >>>

The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies. 

Your idol is shuttered in the dust to prove that God's dust is greater that your idol.

→ Life is given to us, we earn it by giving it.  >>>

Never be afraid of the moments – thus sings the voice of the everlasting.

The hurricane seeks the shortest road by the no-road and suddenly ends its search in the Nowhere.

He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open.

"How far are you from me, O Fruit?" –  "I am hidden in your heart, O Flower."

Do not insult your friend by lending him merits from your own pocket.

I cast my own shadow upon my path, because I have a lamp that has not been lighted.

The bird thinks it is an act of kindness to give the fish a lift in the air.

If you shut your door to all errors truth will be shut out.

Silence will carry your voice like the nest that holds the sleeping birds.

The canal loves to think that rivers exist solely to supply it with water.

The sun greets me with a smile. The rain, his sad sister, talks to my heart.

A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it.

The best does not come alone. It comes with the company of the all.

Men are cruel, but Man is kind.

Kicks only raise dust and not crops from the earth.

Let him only see the thorns who has eyes to see the rose.

Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in the sky.

The stream of truth flows through its channels of mistakes.

Man is worse than an animal when he is an animal.

The real with its meaning read wrong and emphasis misplaced is the unreal.

Lead me in the centre of thy silence to fill my heart with songs.

Lead me in the centre of thy silence to fill my heart with songs.

Put out the lamp when thou wishest. I shall know thy darkness and shall love it.

Man's history is waiting in patience for the triumph of the insulted man.

I have scaled the peak and found no shelter in fame's bleak and barren height. Lead me, my Guide, before the light fades, into the valley of quiet where life's harvest mellows into golden wisdom.