Thiruvalluvar Quotes

“A fortress is of no use to cowards.”

“Among a man's many good possessions, A good command of speech has no equal. Prosperity and ruin issue from the power of the tongue. Therefore, guard yourself against thoughtless speech.”

“Be wise among the wise, but pretend to be dull among fools.”

“Better the arrow that missed the lion than the one that killed a rabbit.”

“Friendship with the wise gets better with time, as a good book gets better with age.”

“How can one, who eats the flesh of others to swell his flesh, show compassion?”

“Nothing is impossible for those who act after wise counsel and careful thought.”

“The biggest fool is he who has learned much, taught much, and is still discontented.”

“The ignorant torment themselves more than they do others.”

“The only gift is giving to the poor;
All else is exchange.”

“There is a limit for everything. You can't just load tons and tons of peacock feathers in a cart considering it's light weight. If you do, it will damage the axle of the cart.”

“There may be many who will gladly face death in the battlefield, but few who will face a hostile society.”

“They who in trouble untroubled are
Will trouble trouble itself.”

“Those who pretend to know what they don't, will be thought ignorant of even what they know.”

“Worthless are those who injure others vengefully, while those who stoically endure are like stored gold. The gratification of the vengeful lasts only for a day, but the glory of the forbearing lasts until the end of time. Though unjustly aggrieved, it is best to suffer the suffering and refrain from unrighteous retaliation.”

“Cling to the One who clings to nothing;
And so clinging, cease to cling.”

“Conquer with forbearance
The excesses of insolence”

“Fame is a jealous mistress
And will brook no rival.”

“Folded hands may conceal a dagger.
Likewise a foe's tears.”

“Great wealth, like a crowd at a concert, gathers and melts.”

“I never saw Death before, and now I see
That it is warring eyes in a woman's form.”

“It is compassion, the most gracious of virtues, which moves the world.”

“It is politics to please and hoodwink those
Who flatter but despise us.”

“Make foes of bowmen if you must,
Never of penmen.”

“The immoral can no more earn respect
Than the envious be rich.”

“The vast world rainless, one may bid adieu
To charity and penance.”

“Those are fools however learned
Who have not learned to walk with the world.”

“Those who have wisdom have all:
Fools with all have nothing.”

“Virtue alone is happiness; all else
Is else, and without praise.”

“When the rare chance comes, seize it
To do the rare deed.”