Thiruvalluvar Quotes & Sayings

Make foes of bowmen if you must,
Never of penmen. — Thiruvalluvar

This world is not for the poor, nor the next for the unkind. — Thiruvalluvar

Friendship with the wise gets better with time, as a good book gets better with age. — Thiruvalluvar

Those are fools however learned
Who have not learned to walk with the world. — Thiruvalluvar

The vast world rainless, one may bid adieu
To charity and penance. — Thiruvalluvar

From whomsoever one hears anything, it is wisdom to understand the true import of it. — Thiruvalluvar

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. — Thiruvalluvar

Among the wealthy, compassionate men claim the richest wealth, For material wealth is possessed by even contemptible men. Find and follow the good path and be ruled by compassion. For if the various ways are examined, compassion will prove the means to liberation. — Thiruvalluvar

Consider a man's good qualities, and consider his faults; and judge his character by that which is more. — Thiruvalluvar

Those who have wisdom have all:
Fools with all have nothing. — Thiruvalluvar

The wound that's made by fire will heal,But the wound that's made by tongue will never heal. — Thiruvalluvar

If the married life possess love and virtue, these will be both its duty and reward — Thiruvalluvar

In sandy soil, when deep you delve, you reach the springs below; The more you learn, the freer streams of wisdom flow. — Thiruvalluvar

Forsake not the friendship of those who have been your staff in adversity, Forget not be benevolence of the blameless. — Thiruvalluvar

Even the ignorant may appear very worthy,If they keep silent before the learned. — Thiruvalluvar

Just as the hand that strikes the ground cannot fail,So is the ruin certain of him who cherishes anger. — Thiruvalluvar

When no food is given to the ear,Then let a little be given to the stomach. — Thiruvalluvar

The learned are said to have seeing eyes;The unlearned have only two sores on their faces. — Thiruvalluvar

A timely benefit, -though thing of little worth,
The gift itself, -in excellence transcends the earth — Thiruvalluvar

The gruel that children's little hands have stirredIs sweeter than nectar. — Thiruvalluvar

It is the prowess of scholars that meetings bring delight and departures leave memories. — Thiruvalluvar

If men must beg to live,May the Creator also go wandering and perish. — Thiruvalluvar

To get wealth and security by guileIs like one who pours water into a pot of unbaked clay. — Thiruvalluvar

Virtue alone is happiness; all else
Is else, and without praise. — Thiruvalluvar

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

Fame is a jealous mistress
And will brook no rival. — Thiruvalluvar

Uttering foul words, while there are the sweetest of words, is like going for the unripe fruits while there are a lot of ripe ones. — Thiruvalluvar

As the quality of water changes with the nature of the soil;So will a man's reason vary with the quality of his friends. — Thiruvalluvar

Just as the hand rushes involuntarily to protect one's honor in case of accidental state of undress, so does a friend come to his friend's aid without being asked — Thiruvalluvar

Whatever things a man gives up,By those he cannot suffer pain. — Thiruvalluvar

The lotus' stem is as long as the depth of water,So men's height is just as great as their inner strength. — Thiruvalluvar

The only gift is giving to the poor;
All else is exchange. — Thiruvalluvar

Those who give way to great anger are like the dead:Those who are free from anger are free from death. — Thiruvalluvar

When the rare chance comes, seize it
To do the rare deed. — Thiruvalluvar

Nothing is impossible for those who act after wise counsel and careful thought. — Thiruvalluvar

When you are about to badger the weak,Then imagine yourself before a more powerful man. — Thiruvalluvar

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. — Thiruvalluvar

The ignorant are like useless, brackish soil;They exist and that is all. — Thiruvalluvar

Cling to the One who clings to nothing;
And so clinging, cease to cling. — Thiruvalluvar

Anger kills both laughter and joy;What greater foe is there than anger? — Thiruvalluvar

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

Not every light is a true light;To the wise the light of truth is light itself. — Thiruvalluvar

Foolish people inflict pain upon them self which is worse than what an enemy can bring upon. — Thiruvalluvar

The ignorant torment themselves more than they do others. — Thiruvalluvar

Just as the earth that bears the man who tills and digs it, to bear those who speak ill of them, is a quality of the highest respect. — Thiruvalluvar

Although an act of help done timely, might be small in nature, it is truly larger than the world itself. — Thiruvalluvar

Conquer with forbearance
The excesses of insolence. — Thiruvalluvar

The crow does not hide its prey, but calls for others to share it;So wealth will be with those of a like disposition. — Thiruvalluvar

There is no greater wealth than Virtue,And no greater loss than to forget it. — Thiruvalluvar

It is compassion, the most gracious of virtues,
Which moves the world. — Thiruvalluvar

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. — Thiruvalluvar

Folded hands may conceal a dagger --
Likewise a foe's tears. — Thiruvalluvar

To use bitter words, when kind words are at hand,Is like picking unripe fruit when the ripe fruit is there. — Thiruvalluvar

To reprove a harm-doer, put him to shame by doing a good deed in return. — Thiruvalluvar

The wound made by hurting with fire will heal but the wound created by harsh words uttered using out tongue leaves an indelible scar. — Thiruvalluvar

The immoral can no more earn respect
Than the envious be rich. — Thiruvalluvar

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

Better the arrow that missed the lion than the one that killed a rabbit. — Thiruvalluvar

Even more than the time when she gave birth, a mother feels her greatest joy when she hears others refer to her son as a wise learned one. — Thiruvalluvar

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

Think wisely before you exercise an action. Having done so however, never look back and regret. That would be a shame — Thiruvalluvar

The biggest fool is he who has learned much, taught much, and is still discontented. — Thiruvalluvar

How can kindliness rule that manWho eateth other flesh to increase his own? — Thiruvalluvar

Be wise among the wise, but pretend to be dull among fools. — Thiruvalluvar

The worth of a wife is a man's good fortune;His jewels are his good children. — Thiruvalluvar

She who has the excellence of home virtues, and can expend within the means of her husband, is a help in the domestic state — Thiruvalluvar

Great wealth, like a crowd at a concert,
Gathers and melts. — Thiruvalluvar

Reasoning with a drunkard is like
Going under water with a torch to seek for a drowning man. — Thiruvalluvar

He who on earth has lived in the conjugal state as he should live, will be placed among the Gods who dwell in heaven — Thiruvalluvar

If people scrutinize their own faults as they do the faults of others,Mankind will be freed of all evil. — Thiruvalluvar

It is politics to please and hoodwink those
Who flatter but despise us. — Thiruvalluvar

Even if someone does something that brings bad to you,do something good for them and make them feel shy for what they have done to you — Thiruvalluvar

They who in trouble untroubled are
Will trouble trouble itself. — Thiruvalluvar

To turn away a guest is poorest poverty;To bear with fools is mightiest might. — Thiruvalluvar

A fortress is of no use to cowards. — Thiruvalluvar