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.
The world has kissed my Soul with its pain, asking for its return in Songs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the transformative power of pain in artistic expression, suggesting that suffering leads to creativity.
Rabindranath Tagore’s quote encapsulates the idea that the struggles and hardships one experiences in life can be a profound source of inspiration for artistic expression. The phrase 'the world has kissed my Soul with its pain' suggests an intimate connection with suffering, portraying it as a necessary element that enriches the soul. In return, the artist channels this pain into 'Songs,' indicating that creativity and art can emerge from deep emotional turmoil, ultimately leading to healing and connection with others through shared experiences.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a creative writing workshop, you might use this quote to encourage participants to embrace their struggles as inspiration for their work.
More from Rabindranath Tagore
All quotes →Music fills the infinite between two souls. This has been muffled by the mist of our daily habits.
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.
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.
If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
To be outspoken is easy when you do not wait to speak the complete truth.
Similar quotes
Chanting just hits you and you want to be a part of it. That’s the point of this whole thing. That’s what cuts through all the ‘stuff’. You get lit up. You don’t have to know what it means.
That's what art is for me. It helps you maintain hope by giving you the ability to either create outside your reality, or to describe your reality.
The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper. You must not edit until you get it all on paper. If you can put everything down, stream-of-consciousness, you'll do yourself a service.
Today's photographers think differently. Many can't see real light anymore. They think only in terms of strobe - sure, it all looks beautiful but it's not really seeing. If you have the eyes to see it, the nuances of light are already there on the subject's face. If your thinking is confined to strobe light sources, your palette becomes very mean - which is the reason I photograph only in available light.
On acting to daughter Isabella Rossellini: Keep it simple. Make a blank face and the music and the story will fill it in.
The truer the facts the better the fiction.