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.
Let me not look for the allies in life's battlefield,
but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward,
feeling your mercy in success alone;
but let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.
- Rabindranath Tragore (winner of the Nobel Prize - 1912)
When you are sorrowful look again in
your heart, and you shall see that in truth
you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which
your laughter rises was oftentimes
filled with your tears.
And you could keep your heart in wonder at
the daily miracles in your life, your pain
would not seem less wonderous than your joy.
Your pain is the breaking of the shell
that encloses your understanding.
-Kahlil Gibran, 1923