You say that you love rain, but you open your umbrella when it rains.
You say that you love the sun, but you find a shadow spot when the sun shines.
You say that you love the wind, but you close your windows when wind blows.
This is why I am afraid, you say that you love me too.
I must not be hanging out in the right circles. I’d never heard this quote. Every imaginable variation of “You say that you love rain” brings traffic to this page. When I googled it, it was all over the place. It should take two seconds to realize this isn’t Shakespeare. Just another “I don’t know who said it, so I’ll make it sound better by attaching Shakespeare’s name.”
Here’s a tip – whenever you see a supposed Shakespeare quote attributed to Shakespeare in the second person (“you do this” and “you do that”) ask yourself, “Who was he talking to?” and “Where would this make sense in his work?” Shakespeare didn’t write Hallmark greeting cards. Rarely does one character stand there and go on and on about another, as in this quote.
Shakespeare On Rain
One of the most recognizable quotes from Shakespeare that has to do with rain comes from a song in Twelfth Night:
Clown
(Sings)
When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
Or, the opening of Portia’s big speech in The Merchant Of Venice:
PORTIA
The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
Who Said You Say That You Love Rain?
The best I’ve found is the Turkish poem “I Am Afraid (Korkuyorum),” which is also sometimes attributed to William Shakespeare. The source material has long since disappeared from the net. With help from the Wayback Machine – here it is, I Am Afraid (Korkuyorum), in both Turkish and English translation. Enjoy. If anybody knows the actual author, please let us know. It’s just not Shakespeare.
Not By Shakespeare
This quote is just one of many found on social media attributed to Shakespeare but not in his works. Check out our Not By Shakespeare category for more!
UPDATED
It appears that the original author’s name might very well be Qyazzirah Syeikh Ariffin.
Thank you!!!!! I have seen this is a few different places, and I knew that I wasn’t Shakespeare. So naturally, the fact that it said William’s name with it was truly irritating.
I noticed this extract on Facebook and I was sure that it isn’t from Shakespeare. I wanted to know the exact source. That’s why I asked google.
My eyes caught those catching words while strolling on Facebook. The one who posted it said it’s from Shakespeare so I wanna read in full lyrics.
It’s Bob Marley
A good enough guess that should be easy to prove? Point me to some lyrics. Not being argumentative, just looking for actual proof so I can update the record!
I’ve seen it too. That’s why it keeps me wondering who’s real author.
It’s not the style of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare was a great classical poet. The poem seems of later poets connected with the romanticism
Alan is joking clearly, it is due to many songs being wrongfully attributed to Bob Marley
BOB MARLEY!!!
Last I checked, Shakespeare doesn’t sound like a 12 year old. Yes, quite irritating.
Bob Marley
The fools that think this is William Shakespeare.
SINCE WHEN WERE UMBRELLAS AROUND IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME!?
While I agree that this is not a Shakespeare quote, you’d probably be surprised to discover that umbrellas in one form or another (most notably “parasols”) were around long, long before Shakespeare.
According to Wikipedia the Italian term ombrella or umbrella was found in English in writing in 1611, so it would’ve been available for Shakespeare’s use at the end of his life (d.1616) but this is obviously not the Bard of Avon. I doubt this prose was written originally by Marley either as I think I recall reading it many years ago in college. HES
I know the person who wrote this poem. I first saw it on a post on 9GAG saying that it is by Bob Marley, I was like, this sounds familiar. Then I plugged in my old external hard disc, and found some old poems that a friend of mine wrote when we were in high school together in Turkey. And there it was, the same poem, just in Turkish. After making a search on the internet, I realized that it is quite popular, some say it’s Shakespeare, some say its Bob Marley, some just say its anonymous, but it is actually written by my friend Saruhan. He won a lot of prizes in different poem competitions during highschool. The word file that I have dates back to 2004, which means I was in first year of high school. Pretty interesting to see my friends poem becoming so popular on the internet without the knowledge of the author.
Do you know his full name? It would be great to get Saruhan to confirm that the poem is his.
It’s Bob Marley
Cool story, Sergio; that makes me think that your friend must have stolen this poem from the internet and then just translated it because I’ve seen this poem on poetry forums dating earlier than 2002…
Yes you are right, until now I thought that this was his poem. But apparently, out of all the poems he gave me, this was the only one he found on internet and really liked so translated and saved on his computer. So yes, he did not write this. So who actually wrote it? I am sorry for the misleading comment earlier 😀
Here’s a link that cites a real Turkish poet – http://quotevadis.com/post/19630219726 – named Saruhan … which is a region in Turkey and also a pseudonym of Nâzım Hikmet Ran (“Ahmet Oğuz Saruhan”, used around 1949)… He wrote a lot of poems that were never published, let alone being translated to English. But several of them are love-themed and have similar sentence structures to this one. I’d ask a Turkish person to be 100% sure, though.
Wait a sec… quotevadis.com seems to have initially posted the poem 2 days ago as Author Unknown, then changed it to Saruhan (after seeing Sergio’s first post?) And then I come along 2 days later, seeing the name Saruhan and guess that it was Hikmet. We might be searching in circles here…
Hello fellows, I am the curator of Quote Vadis. I did try to find the author of the poem, but the only thing that I found was this page saying that it might be from Turkish origin, thus I posted it as “Unknown”. Later a reader suggested Sergio’s comment and I though it might be more closer to the truth, so I did change it to “Saruhan”. Now I will reverse it back to “Unknown” and add a link back to this page with a hope that eventually the author will be discovered. Thanks to everyone involved in solving this mystery.
what is the bob marley song someone respond fast!!!!
This is NOT Bob Marley, face this!!
(Remember that the Turkish version does actually rhyme, the English does not)
there is a similar quote in french by Jean Cocteau i seriously doubt its shaskêar or marley who said it
BOB MARLEY DID NOT SAY THIS
@Dan Man : The reason why the Turkish version actually rhymes, is the conjugation..! In Turkish mostly if you do something – or there’s a verb about you, the end of that word will be “sun”..
However it sounds pretty nice, don’t be sure that its original language is Turkish. well.. can be. i have no clue. i just wanted to say that e.g. in English it also could be really easy to write rhyming poems, if the grammar order of the words would be other way round and your every sentence would end with the world “you”. Actually.. i can show you what i mean by passive. but it sounds very bad.:
You say that rain is loved by you,
but when it rains your umbrella is opened by you…
You say that the sun is loved by you…
..etc. by you by you by you by you.. of course it rhymes.. 😀
yes i agree!
BOB Marley
repeating the same word at the end of each line is NOT rhyming… just saying… it isn’t Shakespeare or Marley… we will never know who actually wrote this, just like “Footprints.” Maybe we aren’t meant to know… it just adds to the beauty of the words…
That is a Bob Marley Quote.
Im going crazy now who is the authour?
I got to talk to a Turkish colleague at work today.
He says that it definitely sounds like Turkish and that these kinds of poems/lyrics are very common in Turkey, being passed around without attribution to a particular person.
They just call it Türk halk şiiri (Turkish folk poetry).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_folk_literature#Folk_poetry
I’ve been listening to Bob since I was 12 (now I’m 31) and I have a vast collection of songs, records and books about him and his works. I’ve seen a lot of interviews and documentaries, and I have never seen him saying, singing or smoking those words in any song, and I have very, very rare and unique music he recorded. But if someone can thell me the name of the song, I will be able to confirm it. This sounds to me as one of those songs that no one knows who sings it or who wrote it, so they say “Bob Marley”.
A friend told me they studied this poem in High School and it was attributed to Qyazzirah Syeikh Ariffin
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-afraid-12/
Submitted on Sunday, November 13, 2011
So before it was said here
Actually, Just Me, this blog post went up on October 19, 2011 – before your example (you can check the URL of the post). But I did not have an author to attribute the poem to at the time. I have only seen the association with Qyazzirah Syeikh Ariffin in the last two comments made here. I will update the post with this name as author.
Funny, but no listing for this Poet’s name on a Turkish Poetry web site, nothing in Wikipedia, nothing on Amazon, no mention at all except in blogs, and this one site that might appear to have some credibility … attributing it with a date of 1984. http://completeclassics.com/p/m/poem.asp?poem=0&poet=1418949&num=2&total=4
Bob Marley did not write this. He did write one about rain but it wasn’t this.
Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.
I’m a huge Marley fan and he did not write this (though I kind of wish he did)
Is it a song or just a saying if it’s a song then what’s it called
If anyone can say is this a song or poem.Someone Say thats bob kkkkkkkkkkkk the what is the SOng name
The whole thing is really nice, you know. Too bad we don’t know who the original writer of it is. :S
I FEEL AT THIS POINT IN THE CONVERSATION IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT BOB MARLEY DID NOT WRITE THIS 🙂
that quote came from the Original Bob Marley!!
Bob Marley was never “afraid” when someone said they love him. That is not Bob Marley. He would have said the more love the merrier. He would have said I love u too. And he never spoke like that either; that sounds like something the Dalai Lama would have said.
People help me! Who wrote these beautiful words? I can not eat, drink, live, see and breathe … I just need to know who is the author?
BOB MARLEY BABY!!!
julian, he did say this quote, regardless if he wrote it or not.. the song is called “could you be loved”.
Bob Marley wouldn’t even sing anything like this. His sings were about his spirituality mostly. He would never sing about a personal bad relationship.
@Julian exactly!! I didn’t read yours before I posted (sorry) but you said it better 🙂
Pretty sure Bob Marley ,but I ll try to find a confirmation via my turkish friends 🙂
To the person who said this poem sounds like it was written by a 12 year old, just because something sounds simple does not mean it was written by a kid. Actually, it takes great intelligence to convey something very simply without any complications and misinterpretations.
I think the fact that no body knows makes this quote way cool.. its like the quiet things that no one ever knows… like a true poet wrote it and he/she never needed the recognition… dope
i love this quote
All these idiots who WANT it to be a Marley quote… well, children, it is NOT Bob Marley, and it never will be Bob Marley, no matter how much you wish it. It is by an unknown Turkish poet… and I’m pretty sure Bob was no Turk.
Well, for having been at an Jean Cocteau (famous paintor, author, movie maker) exposition in France, i can confirm that this quote is his. A little bit modified though, “Tu dis que tu aimes les fleurs et tu leur coupes la queue, tu dis que tu aimes les chiens et tu leur mets une laisse, tu dis que tu aimes les oiseaux et tu les mets en cage, tu dis que tu m’aimes alors moi j’ai peur.” so, either i got a cut version of the quotation, either it has been modified by people on the web. But that can’t be a coincidence, Cocteau is old enough to be the author of the “you say you love, but… […] you say you love me, so i’m afraid”
I’m guessing you’re all saying it’s Bob because he says it in the Marley film. Maybe he was quoting it?
This is a poignant proverb-style “poem.” Obviously, it isn’t Shakespeare because the meter isn’t his style. The words aren’t nearly profound enough, either, though a similar sentiment is there (fear of vulnerability).
And Marley? Please.
Maybe the Turkish author was influenced by Cocteau. However it’s not the same meaning, only the spirit, the concept, but it’s not the same meaning. French one expresses fear to locking, prison. And Turkish one expresses fear to defense, repression from love. In both cases the author feels distrust.
I think it’s a similar quote to Jacques Prévert’s one I checked it because I really like this quote.
Okay. Bob Marley wrote a song with similar lyrics to this poem.
” You say you love rain, but you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun, but you seek shade when it is shining. You say you love wind, but when it comes you close your window. So that’s why I’m scared when you say you love me. ”
Bob Marley took this from some Turkish guy. Blagghhh.
Yeah, I doubt that this would be Shakespear, because – and please correct me, if I’m wrong – at Shakespears time, there were no umbrellas
Bob said this in his movie. He didn’t steal it, his fans are the ones who took what he said and ran with it. I’m sure if he was alive he would of cleared this up already.
Bob Marley would never need to steal anything like this from anyone.
It’s very similar to a French poem written by Jacques Prevert which says:
Tu dis que tu aimes les fleurs
Et tu leur coupes la queue
Tu dis que tu aimes le vent
Et tu fermes la fênetre
Tu dis que tu aimes les escargots
Et tu les plonges dans l’eau bouillante
Quand tu dis que tu m’aimes
Ma chérie, j’ai peur
This means approximately the following:
You say that you love flowers
And you cut their stems
You say that you love wind
And you close the window
You say that you love snails
And you put them in boiling water
When you say that you love me
My dear, I’m scared
BOB NESTER MARLEY.
It is Bob Marley, he says it in one of his song’s intro and in an interview as well.
I actually prefer not knowing who created this poem. It adds to the popularity and mysteriousness vibe.
Bob Marley was legend..
Ima quote-adict. i love reading them. this one holds meaning, it doesnt matter the writer, or even when it was written. sometimes its just the words that mean something. Of course, im not saying. who the bleep cares just, it doesnt matter
The quotes are so meaningful and implemented.
i LOVE this quote, but who the bleep cares if its by Shakespeare or my dog, tho i hope its not. i mean it is, but its not as important as the quote itself. the words alone are amazing and meaningful
This website is cool! It feels funny seeing so many people discussing here!~ Anyway, thanks a lot!
I learned this poem in highschool.
It was attributed to Shakespeare, but in all honesty
Sounds nothing like him. It always stuck out to me for that particular reason. Shakespeare was always a lot more decorative with his words. More dramatic even. Don’t get me wrong, I love this poem. But I love it for it’s simplicity. It states what is and gives you a reaction. Shakespeare states what is, then how sad/glad that it is that is such, then how deeply joyous/grievous one would would be to be as such is; and so on.
okay i love this i actually wanted to cry wen i saw this <3333 i just love it
Rumi
Turkish or not this poem is really great! Although we don’t know who the author is maybe he doesn’t want to be found. Why can’t we just leave it as “admired”
In WS times umbrellas had no mechanism that would allow to open and close them. Such mechanism was invented in 1715. Earlier umbrellas were always open. Even in 18th century umbrellas were still not very popular in England.
The author is not Shakespeare, obviously, and it is not Bob Marley. People say it is Marley because he has repeated the quote, but it is actually a Turkish proverb/poem. In Turkish, it even rhymes. Upon further research, I even found out that the author was Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher, but also a poet. I will tell you it only took a couple of steps to find all of this out, so it makes me chuckle that you did not.
You say that you found that the author was Friedrich Nietzsche. I find no evidence of this anywhere. Please identify where you found this. In what work of Nietzsche did he say this?
33 years ago when I was a 17 yr old girl, I had a brief and beautiful romance with a handsome Austrian who was a few years older than me. We met working at Wendy’s. He worked on the grill, I was the hostess in the diningroom. He wrote me this poem on a Wendy’s napkin and tittled it “To diningroom, from grill” I was love struck. I read it over and over again. He left to travel the world and broke my heart. I always wondered where the poem came from. It’s very simple and beautiful. He reached out to me on Facebook just last week and we are meeting for coffee on Saturday. I have not seen him in 33 years. We are both married with grown kids. He still has my picture and I still have the napkin with the poem written on it. All of this lead me here today as I was searching to find out more about the author and where it came from. We are meeting at Starbucks and I am going to write the poem on a starbucks napkin and hand it back to him when we say goodbye.
Just a gal, what a beautiful and incredible story. 🙂
Whether it’s from Shakespear or Bob marley or Qyazzirah syeikh ariffin or any other turk poet,I felt too heart-soothing to translate it in my own language,when I first read it.
I guess,it may be a turkish
‘folk poem’
Such a lovely poem though. Makes me want to read more Turkish poems