Quotes from Chanakya

Wealth, a friend, a wife, and a kingdom may be regained; but this body when lost may never be acquired again.

Time perfects all living beings as well as kills them; it alone is awake when all others are asleep. Time is insurmountable.

Accumulated wealth is saved by spending just as incoming fresh water is saved by letting out stagnant water.

Do not keep company with a fool for as we can see he is a two-legged beast. Like an unseen thorn he pierces the heart with his sharp words.

Learning is like a cow of desire. It, like her, yields in all seasons. Like a mother, it feeds you on your journey. Therefore learning is a hidden treasure.

He who runs away from a fearful calamity, a foreign invasion, a terrible famine, and the companionship of wicked men is safe.

He who forsakes his own community and joins another perishes as the king who embraces an unrighteous path.

Generosity, pleasing address, courage and propriety of conduct are not acquired, but are inbred qualities.

The cuckoos remain silent for a long time (for several seasons) until they are able to sing sweetly (in the Spring) so as to give joy to all.

The man who remains a fool even in advanced age is really a fool, just as the Indra-Varuna fruit does not become sweet no matter how ripe it might become.

A man attains greatness by his merits, not simply by occupying an exalted seat. Can we call a crow an eagle (garuda) simply because he sits on the top of a tall building.

The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort.

There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it.

He who has wealth has friends and relations; he alone survives and is respected as a man.

Those base men who speak of the secret faults of others destroy themselves like serpents that stray onto anthills.

One destitute of wealth is not destitute, he is indeed rich, but the man devoid of learning is destitute in every way.

He is a pandit (man of knowledge) who speaks what is suitable to the occasion, who renders loving service according to his ability, and who knows the limits of his anger.

The poor wish for wealth; animals for the faculty of speech; men wish for heaven; and godly persons for liberation.

The house of a childless person is a void, all directions are void to one who has no relatives, the heart of a fool is also void, but to a poverty stricken man all is void.

A man or a ruler should always take up a task after thoroughly considering its consequences. Otherwise fate also cannot protect his wealth.

If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?

He shall despise none, but hear the opinions of all. A wise man shall make use of even a child's sensible utterance.

A wise man should marry a virgin of a respectable family even if she is deformed. He should not marry one of a low-class family, through beauty. Marriage in a family of equal status is preferable.

Defect in one's limb ruins a man.