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Quotes By Chanakya

Chanakya Image

Teacher And Philosopher

Chanakya

375 BCE - 283 BCE

If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic.

Skills are called hidden treasure as they save like a mother in a foreign country.

Do not put your trust in a bad companion nor even trust an ordinary friend, for if he should get angry with you, he may bring all your secrets to light.

A low-minded person should not be given good advice.

A person becomes great not be sitting on some high seat, but through higher qualities. Can a crow become an eagle by simply sitting on the top of a palatial building?

Good behavior wins even an enemy.

Separation from the wife, disgrace from one's own people, an enemy saved in battle, service to a wicked king, poverty, and a mismanaged assembly: these six kinds of evils, if afflicting a person, burn him even without fire.

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

Rain which falls upon the sea is useless; so is food for one who is satiated; in vain is a gift for one who is wealthy; and a burning lamp during the daytime is useless.

There is no water like rainwater; no strength like one's own; no light like that of the eyes; and no wealth more dear than food grain.

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

Either Scholarship or Death will be my refuge.

There is no enemy like infatuation and fire like wrath.

That man who is without religion and mercy should be rejected. A guru without spiritual knowledge should be rejected. The wife with an offensive face should be given up and so should relatives who are without affection.

Dharma is law in its widest sense-spiritual, moral, ethical and temporal. Every individual, whether the ruler or the ruled, is governed by his or her own dharma. To the extent that society respected dharma, society protected itself; to the extent society offended it, society undermined.

For in the absence of a magistrate (dandadharabhave), the strong will swallow the weak; but under his protection, the weak resist the strong.

Every neighbouring state is an enemy and the enemy's enemy is a friend.

Just as it is impossible to know when a swimming fish is drinking water, so it is impossible to find out when a government servant is stealing money.

The arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person. But stratagems devised by wise men can kill even babes in the womb.

Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.