"Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn! Look to this Day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief Course lie all the Varieties and Realities of your Existence: The Bliss of Growth, The Glory of Action, The Splendour of Beauty; For Yesterday is but a Dream And Tomorrow is only a Vision; But Today well lived makes Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope. Look well therefore to this Day! Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!"

"The autumn comes, a maiden fair In slenderness and grace, With nodding rice-stems in her hair And lilies in her face. In flowers of grasses she is clad; And as she moves along, Birds greet her with their cooing glad Like bracelets' tinkling song."

"May kingship benefit the land, And wisdom grow in scholars’ band; May Shiva see my faith on earth And make me free of all rebirth."

"The tear drop that once stood trembling on your lower lip —and I watched uncaring, lost in delusion— while it still clings to your gently-curving lashes, I shall now wipe away, my beloved, to free myself of remorse."

"A graceful arch of brows above great eyes; Lips bathed in darting, smiling light that flies Reflected from white teeth; a mouth as red As red karkandhu-fruit; love’s brightness shed O’er all her face in bursts of liquid charm— The picture speaks, with living beauty warm."

"I treated her with scorn and loathing ever; Now o’er her pictured charms my heart will burst: A traveller I, who scorned the mighty river, And seeks in the mirage to quench his thirst."

"A good man never lets grief get the upper hand. The mountains are calm even in a tempest."

"To be a king, is to be a disappointed man."

"I cannot taste the sweet, and cannot leave it."

"It is just such women, selfish, sweet, false, that entice fools."

"अनुभवति हि मूर्ध्ना पादपस्तीव्रमुष्णं । शमयति परितापं छायया संश्रितानाम् ॥"

"The mind of age is like a lamp Whose oil is running thin; One moment it is shining bright, Then darkness closes in."

"Because your heart, by loving fancies blinded, Has scorned a guest in pious life grown old, Your lover shall forget you though reminded, Or think of you as of a story told."

"May lily-dotted lakes delight your eye; May shade-trees bid the heat of noonday cease; May soft winds blow the lotus-pollen nigh; May all your path be pleasantness and peace."

"A bee may be born in a hole in a tree, but she likes the honey of the lotus."

"Be brave, and check the rising tears That dim your lovely eyes."

"What is intended to be said, if left unsaid, becomes a matter of regret later."

"Grief must be shared to be endured."

"Fools! Do you argue, that things ancient ought, on that account, to be true and noble! Fallacies and Falsehoods there were from time immemorial, and dare you argue that because these are ancient these should prevail? In ancient times, do you think that there was not the ignorant, and the shallow minded? And why after all should you embrace so fondly a carcass of dead thoughts. Live in the present and shape the future, do not be casting lingering looks to the distant past for the past has passed away, never again to return."

"யாமறிந்த மொழிகளிலே தமிழ்மொழி போல் இனிதாவது எங்கும் காணோம்po"

"He loved Thamizh and India with a passion and was proud of his cultural heritage. At the same time he was fully cognizant of the social repercussions of caste differences and how superstitions and blind faith in the old traditions have lead to stagnation. More important is the fact that he had the courage and tenacity to stand up before a ruthless imperial power and was prepared to face all the personal consequences. The only weapon he had at his disposal to achieve his cherished goal was not wealth or physical ability but only his literary skill."

"Unbearable becomes the pain in my heart — When I think of my people, broken down, broken by disease in mind and limb. On the edge of life they always linger; For countless are the diseases Of Ignorance and Hunger. And on treacherous paths to Slavery like children blind, they would walk behind strangers from over the sea. O, divine Land, blessed by the gods! O, ancient Mother of Culture and Art! Thy children today are spineless hordes."

"The Devil is a Five-headed Snake, says the father. The son says, Nay, it's a Six-headed one.And then their hearts burn with hate for each others — and they live apart for many years."

"Though Bharathi died so young, he cannot be reckoned with Chatterton and Keats among the inheritors of "unfulfilled renown". His was a name to conjure with, at any rate in South India, while he was still alive. But his fame was not so much as a poet as of a patriot and a writer of patriotic songs. His loudly expressed admiration for Tilak, his fiery denunciations in the Swadesamitran, and the fact that he had to seek refuge in French territory to escape the probing attentions of the Government of Madras, made him a hero and a "freedom fighter". His lilting songs were on numerous lips, and no procession or public meeting in a Tamil district in the days of "non-cooperation" could begin, carry on or end without singing a few of them... Bharathi's love of Tamil, both the language as it was in his own day and the rich literature left as a heritage, was no less than his love of India... When he claims for Valluvan, Ilango and Kamban, Bharathy does so not as an ignorant chauvinist but as one who has savoured both the sweetness of these writers and the strength and richness of others in Sanskrit and English..."

"Bharati's passion for social causes and his wilful disregard for what others thought or said of him made him a perfect lightning rod for controversy. In 1913, in one of the most debated acts of his life, he performed the sacred thread ceremony for a Dalit, Kanakalingam."

"Driving away fear, breaking the bonds of servitude, Rooting out ignoble thoughts raised the nation, That it may reach lofty heights in the world, The immortal poet who conquered Time! “All are one caste” proclaimed he, Defiling discriminations driving away, Arrived the immortal poet — the cascade of words, And a flame burst of fiery heroism!"

"Bharathi was a Hindu. But his spirituality was not limited. He sang to the Hindu deities, and at the same time he wrote songs of devotion to Jesus Christ and Allah."

"கவிதை எழுதுபவன் கவியன்று. கவிதையே வாழ்க்கையாக உடையோன், வாழ்க்கையே கவிதையாகச் செய்தோன், அவனே கவி"

"ஜாதி மதங்களைப் பாரோம் - உயர் ஜன்மம்இத் தேசத்தில் எய்தின ராயின் வேதிய ராயினும் ஒன்றே - அன்றி வேறு குலத்தின ராயினும் ஒன்றே"