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If life's journey be endless where is its goal? The answer is, it is everywhere. We are in a palace which has no end, but which we have reached. By exploring it and extending our relationship with it we are ever making it more and more our own. The infant is born in the same universe where lives the adult of ripe mind. But its position is not like a schoolboy who has yet to learn his alphabet, finding himself in a college class. The infant has it own joy of life because the world is not a mere road, but a home, of which it will have more and more as it grows up in wisdom. With our road that gain is at every step, for it is the road and the home in one; it leads us on yet gives us shelter.

Rabindranath Tagore#73

LifeGrowthPurposeWisdomJourneyHome

About this quote

What does it mean?
Life has no single goal but is everywhere. The world is both a road and a home, offering growth and shelter as we explore it.
In plain terms
Life is a journey of finding home in the world, not reaching a final goal.
What can you take from it?
Find meaning in every step of life, not just the destination.

Where it applies

  • seeking direction
  • feeling lost
  • planning life

Putting it to work

  • reflect on daily joys
  • nurture relationships
  • appreciate the present

Questions to consider

  • Where do you feel most at home?
  • What do you gain at every step of your journey?

Another view

Viewing life as endless may discourage setting concrete goals or priorities.

More from Rabindranath Tagore

  1. If I say that He is within me, the universe is ashamed; if I say that He is without me, it is falsehood.

    Permalink to quote #72
  2. If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars

    Permalink to quote #74
  3. If anger be the basis of our political activities, the excitement tends to become an end in itself, at the expense of the object to be achieved... side issues …

    Permalink to quote #71

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