Chanakya Quotes

Chanakya (370–283 BCE) is considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science and his work is thought of as an important precursor to Classical Economics. In the Western world, he has been referred to as The Hindu Machiavelli.

Chanakya was a teacher to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340–293 BCE) - the first emperor in the archaeologically recorded history to rule the complete Indian Subcontinent. Chanakya is generally considered to be the architect of Chandragupta's rise to power at a young age. Traditionally, he is also identified by the names Kautilya and Vishnu Gupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise called Arthaśāstra.
Selected Quotes of Chanakya are:

1. A man is great by deeds, not by birth.
    
2. A man is born alone and dies alone; and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone; and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.
    
3. As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant, try to save your soul; when death is immanent what can you do?
    
4. Even if a snake is not poisonous,
   it should pretend to be venomous.
    
5. As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.
    
6. The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquility is not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there.
    
7. The fragrance of flowers spreads
   only in the direction of the wind.
   But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction.
    
8. It is better to die than to preserve this life by incurring disgrace. The loss of life causes but a moment’s grief, but disgrace brings grief every day of one’s life.
    
9. The earth is supported by the power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed all things rest upon truth.
    
10. The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. ! It will destroy you.
     
11. Do not reveal what you have thought upon doing, but by wise council keep it secret being determined to carry it into execution.
     
12. 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.
     
13. There is some self-interest behind every friendship.
    There is no Friendship without self-interests.
    This is a bitter truth.
     
14. 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.
     
15. 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.
     
16. 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.
     
17. The world’s biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.
     
18. Education is the best friend.
    An educated person is respected everywhere.
    Education beats the beauty and the youth.
     
19. 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.
     
20. Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.
     
21. 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.
     
22. God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.
     
23. 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.
     
24. As a single withered tree, if set aflame, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family.
     
25. Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness.
     
26. Whores don’t live in company of poor men, citizens never support a weak company and birds don’t build nests on a tree that doesn’t bear fruits.
     
27. 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.
     
28. 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.
     
29. 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.
     
30. Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart are needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.
     
31. O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet.
     
32. The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.
     
33. If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?
     
34. 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.
     
35. 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.