Chanakya

Chanakya was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and was the chief architect of his rise to power.

• A debt should be paid off till the last penny, and an enemy should be destroyed till last trace.

• A human being should strive for four things in life — dharma (duty), artha (money), kama (pleasure) and moksha (salvation). A person who hasn't striven for even one of these things has wasted life.

• A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

• A person should not be too honest. Just as straight trees are chopped-down first, honest people are taken advantage of first.

• As soon as the fear approaches near, attack it and destroy it.

• Avoid him who talks sweetly before you but tries to ruin you behind your back, for he is like a pitcher of poison with milk on top.

• Before you start any 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.

• Books are as useless to a stupid person as a mirror is useless to a blind person.

• Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education surpasses the beauty and the youth.

• Even if a snake is not venomous, it should pretend to be.

• God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.

• Don't hesitate to learn something even from the most lowly of creatures.

• In a state where the ruler lives like a common man, the citizens live like kings. And in the state where the ruler lives like a king, the citizens live like beggars.

• Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness.

• Once you start working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.

• The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you.

• The four greatest enemies of a man are — the father who has taken a loan, the characterless mother, the beautiful but promiscuous wife and the stupid child.

• There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.