The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar/Chapter 66
CHAPTER 66
PURITY OF ACTION
651. Alliances bring success unto a man : but purity of action fulfilleth his every desire.
652. Always turn thy face away from those deeds that bring not glory as well as profit.
653. Those that desire to rise in the world, let them abjure all action that can tarnish their glory.
654. Behold the men who see things in their right proportions: even when fallen on evil days they stoop not to action that is dishonourable and mean.
655. Let not a man do those things which make him cry afterwards, what is it that I have done ? and if he hath done any such thing, it is good for him if he doth it not once again.
656. Let not a man do those things that good men condemn, even to save the mother that bore him from starvation.
657. The indigence of the worthy is better far than wealth that is amassed by dishonourable means.
658. Behold the men that shun not those things that are forbidden by good morals: they will come to grief even if they succeed in their designs.
659. All that is wrong in the midst of tears will depart also accompanied by weepings: but that which is acquired by righteous ways, even if lost in the middle, increaseth in the latter end.
660. To try to lay by wealth by means of guile is like trying to preserve water in a pot of clay that is not baked.
