“I have felt that you have been able to assimilate these secrets into your life, and the truth which lies in the beauty of all things has passed into your souls. A mere knowledge of things can be had in a short enough time, but their spirit can only be acquired by centuries of training and self-control.”

Bengali poet and polymath

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter. He lived from 1861 to 1941, and was one of the leading figures of the Bengal Renaissance. He shaped modern Bengali culture through a wide body of work that joined literature, music, and public thought. In 1913, he became the first Indian and the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize in any category, and the first lyricist to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. He also wrote and composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.