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 “You say that you love rain” variation 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!
Other Quotes Not By Shakespeare
- Expectation Is The Root Of All Heartache
- The Earth has music for those who listen.
- How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways
UPDATED
The original author’s name might very well be Qyazzirah Syeikh Ariffin.
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