Thiruvalluvar
Thiruvalluvar was a Tamil poet-saint known as the author of the Tirukkural, considered a masterpiece of human thought, compared in India and abroad to the Bible, John Milton's Paradise Lost, and the works of Plato.
There is no greater wealth than Virtue,
And no greater loss than to forget it.
To turn away a guest is poorest poverty;
To bear with fools is mightiest might.
The crow does not hide its prey, but calls for others to share it;
So wealth will be with those of a like disposition.
The learned are said to have seeing eyes;
The unlearned have only two sores on their faces.
Real kindness seeks no return;
What return can the world make to rain clouds?
The lotus’ stem is as long as the depth of water,
So men’s height is just as great as their inner strength.
Those who give way to great anger are like the dead:
Those who are free from anger are free from death.
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.
If men must beg to live,
May the Creator also go wandering and perish.
They who in trouble untroubled are
Will trouble trouble itself.
To use bitter words, when kind words are at hand,
Is like picking unripe fruit when the ripe fruit is there.
When no food is given to the ear,
Then let a little be given to the stomach.
To get wealth and security by guile
Is like one who pours water into a pot of unbaked clay.
The wound that’s made by fire will heal,
But the wound that’s made by tongue will never heal.
Whatever things a man gives up,
By those he cannot suffer pain.
Not every light is a true light;
To the wise the light of truth is light itself.
When you are about to badger the weak,
Then imagine yourself before a more powerful man.
Even the ignorant may appear very worthy,
If they keep silent before the learned.
Anger kills both laughter and joy;
What greater foe is there than anger?
The ignorant are like useless, brackish soil;
They exist and that is all.