Death belongs to life as birth does.

What it means

A step needs both lifting and setting down; a life needs both its beginning and its end. Death is not outside life but part of its stride. Walk without fearing the step down.

The source

"Death belongs to life as birth does." Rabindranath Tagore said it in Stray Birds 268 (1916). Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, 1916.

"Death belongs to life as birth does. The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down."

Rabindranath Tagore, 1916, Stray Birds 268 (1916). Text read at gutenberg.org.

Who said it

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Bengali poet, composer and teacher, and in 1913 the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He rendered his own short poems into English in Gitanjali and Stray Birds.

Questions

What does "Death belongs to life as birth does." mean?

A step needs both lifting and setting down; a life needs both its beginning and its end. Death is not outside life but part of its stride. Walk without fearing the step down.

Who said "Death belongs to life as birth does."?

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Source: Stray Birds 268 (1916).

What is the original wording?

Death belongs to life as birth does. The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down (Rabindranath Tagore, 1916). Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, 1916.

Is "Death belongs to life as birth does." on a shirt?

Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.

"Death belongs to life as birth does." (Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds 268 (1916), trans. Rabindranath Tagore, 1916). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/death-belongs-to-life-as-birth-does