Chanakya's words of wisdom ...

• A man is great by deeds, not by birth.
• Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beautyand the youth.
• The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquillity is not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there.
• Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.
• We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment.
• As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.
• There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests.This is a bitter truth.
• Jealousy is another name for failure.
• A rich man has many friends.
• Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.
• Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.
• Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.
• He who lives in our mind is near though he may actually be far away; but he who is not in our heart is far though he may really be nearby.
• 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.
• The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a personspreads in all direction.
• 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.
• Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends.
• Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the resultsmight be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to thesequestions, go ahead.
• If you get to learn something even from the worst of creatures, don't hesistate.
• The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you.
• Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and the of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.
• A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are troubled first.
• Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never giveyou any happiness.
• The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers its rear end, nor protects it from the bites of insects.
• Once you start working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who worksincerely are the happiest.
• 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.
• Let not a single day pass without your learning a verse, half a verse, or a fourth of it, or even one letter of it; nor without attending to charity, study and other pious activity.
• Success requires first expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort.
• The beauty of a cuckoo is in its notes, that of a woman in her unalloyed devotion to her husband, that of an ugly person in his scholarship, and that of an ascetic in his forgiveness.
• Do not be very upright in your dealings for you would see by going to the forest that straight trees are cut down while crooked ones are left standing.
• The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool: these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep.
• 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 no austerity equal to a balanced mind, and there is no happiness equal to contentment; there is no disease like covetousness, and no virtue like mercy.
• Moral excellence is an ornament for personal beauty; righteous conduct, for high birth; success for learning; and proper spending for wealth.