Do not inhabit a country where you are not respected, cannot earn your livelihood, have no friends, or cannot acquire knowledge.
Do not stay for a single day where there are not these five persons: a wealthy man, a Brāhmaṇa well versed in Vedic lore, a king, a river and a physician.
Wise men should never go into a country where there are no means of earning wealth, where the people have no dread of anybody, have no sense of shame, no intelligence, or a charitable disposition.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
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.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
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.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
A covetous man may be won by means of a gift, an obstinate man by folded hands in salutation, a fool by humouring him – but a learned man can only be won by the truth.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
Learned men are envied by the foolish; rich men by the poor; chaste women by adulteresses; and beautiful ladies by ugly ones.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
There does not exist a ruby in every mountain, nor a pearl in the head of every elephant; neither are the saints to be found everywhere, nor sandal trees in every forest.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
Pamper a son until he is five years of age, and use the stick for another ten years, but when he has attained his sixteenth year treat him as a friend.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
He who runs away from a fearful calamity, a foreign invasion, a terrible famine, and the companionship of wicked men is safe.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
Women have hunger two-fold, shyness four-fold, daring six-fold, and lust eight-fold as compared to men.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
Give up a member to save a family, a family to save a village, a village to save a country, and the country to save yourself.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
A still-born son as superior to a foolish son endowed with a long life. The first causes grief for but a moment while the latter like a blazing fire consumes his parents in grief for life.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
Many a bad habit is developed through overindulgence, and many a good one by chastisement, therefore beat your son as well as your pupil; never indulge them.
—Kautilya, according to the Cāṇakya Nītiśāstra
