Page:The Kural or The Maxims Of Tiruvalluvar.pdf/258

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PART II WEALTH
 

CHAPTER 97

HONOUR

961. Forbear from those things that would lower thee, even though they should be indispensable for the very preservation of thy life.

962. Behold the men that desire to leave an honoured name behind them : they will not do that which is not right even for the sake of glory.

963. Cultivate modesty in the day of prosperity : but in the day of thy decline hold fast to thy dignity.

964. Behold the men that have soiled a name that was honourable : they are even as the locks of hair that have been shaven off the head and thrown away.

965. Even men who are grand as a mountain will look small if they do an ignoble thing, though it should be only of the measure of a kunri seed.

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