---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The birds looked upon me as nothing but a…"
description: "\"The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a trifling creature without wings-and they would have nothing to do with me. Were it not so I woul..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png"
---

#  The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a…

![“The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a trifling creature without wings-and they would have nothing to do with me. Were it not so I would build a small cabin for myself among their crowd of nests and pass my days counting the sea waves.” quote by Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png)

> “The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a trifling creature without wings-and they would have nothing to do with me. Were it not so I would build a small cabin for myself among their crowd of nests and pass my days counting the sea waves.”

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker feels alienated from birds, yearning for simple communion with nature.

**In simple terms:** Feeling excluded from nature.

Key Takeaway

Seek harmony with the natural world.

Themes

loneliness nature spirituality

Mood

contemplative melancholic

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- meditation
- environmentalism
- creative inspiration

Key Concepts

alienation yearning connection

Questions to Reflect On

- What does the sea represent?
- How can we bridge the gap with nature?

A Different Perspective

Birds may symbolize broader societal isolation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) [Birds Looked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds-looked-3827418/) [Cabins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabins/) [Counting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/counting/) [Creature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creature/) [Creature Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creature-wings-2620371/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Crowds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crowds/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nests/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Sea Waves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea-waves/) [Trifling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trifling/) [Trifling Creature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trifling-creature-3827419/) [Wave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wave/) [Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings/)

## Related quotes

> [“Beside the bat, on the opposite window, was the image of a raven painted in a mixture of black, blue and purple. I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-a-poe/beside-the-bat-on-the-opposite-window-was-the-image-of-a-raven/)

[K.A. Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-a-poe/)

> [“There is no difference between the sea and the waves When a wave swells, it is made of water When it breaks against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/there-is-no-difference-between-the-sea-and-the-waves-when-a-wave/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [Nature uncovers the inner secrets of nature in two ways: one by the force of bodies operating outside it; the other by the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-lomonosov/nature-uncovers-the-inner-secrets-of-nature-in-two-ways-one-by-the/)

[Mikhail Lomonosov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-lomonosov/)

> [“One Autumn night, in Sudbury town, Across the meadows bare and brown, The windows of the wayside inn Gleamed red with fire-light through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-autumn-night-in-sudbury-town-across-the-meadows-bare-and-brown/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You are something that the whole world is doing just as when the sea has waves on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/you-are-something-that-the-whole-world-is-doing-just-as-when-the-sea/)

[Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/)

> [The Church's foundation is unshakable and firm against the assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose/the-church-s-foundation-is-unshakable-and-firm-against-the-assaults/)

[Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose/)

> [“The sea waves stirred before me they dashed against the rocks Like a mermaid rising from its depths curled white sea foam were her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giselle-v-steele/the-sea-waves-stirred-before-me-they-dashed-against-the-rocks-like-a/)

[Giselle V. Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giselle-v-steele/)

> [A sea is for you, &amp; waves are for me. The sun is for you, &amp; light is for me. The sky is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu/a-sea-is-for-you-waves-are-for-me-the-sun-is-for-you-light-is-for-me/)

[Ritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu/)

> [“Only those who ignore d sea waves&amp;tides to fish in deep waters can have abundance of fishes to feed their generation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olojo-daniel-olatunji/only-those-who-ignore-d-sea-waves-tides-to-fish-in-deep-waters-can/)

[Olojo Daniel Olatunji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olojo-daniel-olatunji/)

> [“Such are the visions which proffer great cornucopias full of fruit to the solitary traveller, or murmur in his ear like sirens lolloping away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/such-are-the-visions-which-proffer-great-cornucopias-full-of-fruit-to/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [Anyone can see that to write Uncle Tom's Cabin on the knee in the kitchen, with constant calls to cooking and other details of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-garlin-spencer/anyone-can-see-that-to-write-uncle-tom-s-cabin-on-the-knee-in-the/)

[Anna Garlin Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-garlin-spencer/)

> [It can be frightening to spend 5 weeks alone in a cabin in the wilderness. I was able to collect my thoughts and worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wanda-koop/it-can-be-frightening-to-spend-5-weeks-alone-in-a-cabin-in-the/)

[Wanda Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wanda-koop/)

> [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/)

[Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/)

> [True, the fragile bodies of his fellows do not weigh down his plane; true, the fretful minds of weaker men are missing from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/true-the-fragile-bodies-of-his-fellows-do-not-weigh-down-his-plane/)

[Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/)

> [I'm not gonna do the same, tired, standard 'I was born in a log cabin...' kind of book. There's so much more I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/i-m-not-gonna-do-the-same-tired-standard-i-was-born-in-a-log-cabin/)

[Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/)

## More by Rabindranath Tagore

> [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [From the grasses in the field to the stars in the sky, each one is doing just that; and there is such profound peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/from-the-grasses-in-the-field-to-the-stars-in-the-sky-each-one-is/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [Plant flowers in others' gardens and your life becomes a bouquet! Submitted by Lisa Letto, Coordinator, Nutrition Resource and Volunteer Centre, College of Pharmacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/plant-flowers-in-others-gardens-and-your-life-becomes-a-bouquet/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [The meaning of this is, that whomsoever we love, in him we find our own soul in the highest sense. The final truth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-meaning-of-this-is-that-whomsoever-we-love-in-him-we-find-our-own/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/if-you-shed-tears-when-you-miss-the-sun-you-also-miss-the-stars/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [The best kind of wealth is to give up inordinate desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-best-kind-of-wealth-is-to-give-up-inordinate-desires/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [Now it is time to sit quiet, face to face with thee, and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/now-it-is-time-to-sit-quiet-face-to-face-with-thee-and-to-sing/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [If it is necessary to die in order to live like men, what harm in dying?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/if-it-is-necessary-to-die-in-order-to-live-like-men-what-harm-in-dying/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [“Strong Mercy: My desires are many and my cry is pitiful, but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals; and this strong mercy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/strong-mercy-my-desires-are-many-and-my-cry-is-pitiful-but-ever-didst/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [The weak can be terrible because they try furiously to appear strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-weak-can-be-terrible-because-they-try-furiously-to-appear-strong/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [The movement of life has to rest in its own music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-movement-of-life-has-to-rest-in-its-own-music/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [It is the docile who achieve the most impossible things in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/it-is-the-docile-who-achieve-the-most-impossible-things-in-this-world/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [“There, display and extravagance, in dress, in furniture, in costly entertainments, are startling. They seem to push you back into a corner, like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/there-display-and-extravagance-in-dress-in-furniture-in-costly/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

[Explore all 596 Rabindranath Tagore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

## More Bird quotes

> [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/)

[Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/)

> [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/)

[Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/)

> [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/)

[Nina Schuyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-schuyler/)

> [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/)

[e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/)

> [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/)

[Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/)

> [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/)

[Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/)

> [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/)

[Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/)

> [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/)

[Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/)

> [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/)

[Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/)

> [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/)

[Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/)

> [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/)

[Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/)

> [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/)

[Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/)

[Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a trifling creature without wings-and they would have nothing to do with me. Were it not so I would build a small cabin for myself among their crowd of nests and pass my days counting the sea waves.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Rabindranath Tagore"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but-a-man-quite-a-trifling/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bird"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but-a-man-quite-a-trifling/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d9/rabindranath-tagore-383_bird_the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but_1233973.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a trifling creature without wings-and they would have…” — Rabindranath Tagore",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Rabindranath Tagore",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The birds looked upon me as...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but-a-man-quite-a-trifling/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-birds-looked-upon-me-as-nothing-but-a-man-quite-a-trifling/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
