Chanakya Quotes

Virtuous persons and fruit-laden trees bow, but fools and dry sticks break because they do not bend.

Don't judge the future of a person based on his present conditions, becausetime has the power to change black coal to shiny diamond.

A debt should be paid off till the last penny; An enemy should be destroyed without a trace

A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

Till the enemy's weakness is known , he should be kept on friendly terms.

A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.

There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.

The biggest guru-mantra is: never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you.

One who is in search of knowledge should give up the search of pleasure and the one who is in search of pleasure should give up the search of knowledge.

He who befriends a man whose conduct is vicious, whose vision impure, and who is notoriously crooked, is rapidly ruined.

Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.

Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

Low class men desire wealth;middle class men both wealth and respect; but the noble, honour only; hence honour is the noble man's true wealth.

Save your wealth against future calamity. Do not say, "what fear has a rich man of calamity?" Wealth sometimes vanishes away and large accumulations perish.

As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.

One whose knowledge is confined to books and whose wealth is in the possession of others, can use neither his knowledge nor wealth when the need for them arises.

God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.

Avoid him who talks sweetly before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher of poison with milk on top.

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.

Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.

If one limb of the body is defected or inflicted with, disease, the whole feels tha pai. Some way if any department, minister or official of the state is faulty, the whole country is effected. An administrator should try hard to curb it.

Knower of the means makes impossible tasks also possible.

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

He who is overly attached to his family members experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy.