Rabindranath Tagore — Quote from Fruit-Gathering
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.”
Fruit-Gathering (1916)
Concepts: loneliness, agency, meaning
Resonant Quotes
- “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invinci...” — Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa Both articulate the philosophical shift from seeking external protection to cultivating inner strength that can withs...
- “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa Both articulate the same fundamental insight about finding inner strength within adversity rather than seeking escape...
- “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to s...” — Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet Both quotes transform the relationship to fear and suffering from avoidance to embrace, suggesting that what we fear ...
- “What I really need is to get clear about what I must do, not what I must know...” — Søren Kierkegaard, Journals Both reject passive contemplation in favor of courageous engagement—Kierkegaard's call for clarity about action and T...
- “You cannot find peace by avoiding life.” — Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out Tagore's prayer serves as the spiritual method for achieving what Woolf identifies as the only path to peace—both ins...
- “Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ah...” — Rollo May, The Courage to Create Both define courage not as the absence of struggle but as the capacity to move forward through pain, with Tagore's pr...
- “A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the port...” — James Joyce, Ulysses Joyce's genius making volitional errors and Tagore's prayer to face rather than flee dangers both celebrate the trans...
- “For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty ov...” — Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Mann's rejection of death's sovereignty and Tagore's prayer for courage both advocate for spiritual strength that fac...