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 TagoreRead
I've travelled all around the world to see the rivers and the mountains, and I've spent a lot of money. I have gone to great lengths, I have seen everything, but I forgot to see just outside my house a dewdrop on a little blade of grass, a dewdrop which reflects in its convexity the whole universe around you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of appreciating the simple beauty found in our immediate surroundings.
Rabindranath Tagore reflects on the human tendency to seek grand experiences and distant travel while often overlooking the simple and profound beauty in everyday life. He suggests that while one might journey to far-flung places to witness nature’s grandeur, true appreciation can be found in the small details, like a dewdrop on a blade of grass, which can encapsulate the vastness of the universe within its delicate surface.
Themes
NatureAppreciationBeautySimplicityReflection
In practice
Example use cases
During a nature retreat, one might reflect on this quote to encourage mindfulness in appreciating the small wonders around us.
More from Rabindranath Tagore
All quotes →Music fills the infinite between two souls. This has been muffled by the mist of our daily habits.
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True deliverance of man is the deliverance from Avidya i.e. ignorance. It is not in destroying anything that is positive and real, for that cannot be possible, but that which is negative, which obstructs our vision of truth.
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The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
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If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
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To be outspoken is easy when you do not wait to speak the complete truth.
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