Begin thy learning in the name of the Divine Son (Pulleyar).

Endeavour to be respected among men by learning.

Let thy learning be thy best friend.

Use the strongest intreaties where thou canst learn something, then thou wilt become a great man in the world.

All perishes except learning.

Though one is of low birth, learning will make him respected.

Religious wise men enjoy great happiness.

Though thou shouldest be one hundred years old, endeavour still to increase in knowledge. Wisdom is firm grounded, even on the great

ocean.

Without wisdom no where is there firm ground to stand upon.

Learning also suits old age.

Wise men will never offend any by speaking. Accept instruction even from men of low birth. Do not behave impolitely to men of learning. Poets require a great deal of learning.

The unwise only flatter others.

Seek honour and thou shalt get it.

The virtuous are also tutors.

Wisdom is the greatest treasure on earth.

The wiser the more respected.

Learning gives great fame.

Learn one thing after the other, but not hastily. A science in which we take no pleasure, is like a bitter medicine.

Speak so that town and country people may understand thee.

Wise men are as good as kings.

Do not deceive even thine enemy.

Hast thou learned much? communicate it also in an agreeable manner.

In whom is much science, in him is great value. The present Tamul language does not equal the old.

He that knows the sciences of the ancients, is the greatest philosopher.

Truth is in learning the best.

Wise men are exalted above all other men. True philosophy does not suffer a man to be put in confusion.

In proportion as one increases in learning, he ought also to increase in virtue.

The most prosperous good is the increase in learning.

He who has no knowledge knows not also the truth.

Wisdom is a treasure valued every where.

A good tutor is beloved over the whole world. What we gain by science is the best estate (inheritance).

The Vedam (sacred writings) teaches wisdom. Speak and write for the benefit of the public. He who speaks well and connectedly, is best understood by all.

If knowledge has a proper influence on the mind, it makes us virtuous.

From the Asiatic Researches.

APHORISMS ON MAN.

HE, who in the same given time can produce more than many others, has vigour; he, who can produce more and better, has talents; and he, who can produce what none else can, has genius.

He, who is open, without levity; generous, without waste; secret, without craft; humble, without meanness; cautious, without anxiety; regular, yet not formal; mild, yet not timid; firm, yet not tyrannical; is made to pass the ordeal of honour, friendship, virtue.

He, who begins with severity in judging of another, ends commonly with falsehood.

A sneer is often the sign of heartless malignity. Sneers are the blasts that precede quarrels.

He is more than great, who instructs his offender while he forgives him.

There is a manner of forgiving so divine, that you are ready to embrace the offender for having called it forth.

He, who is master of the fittest moment to crush his enemy, and magnanimously neglect it, is born to be a conqueror.

Every thing may be mimicked by hypocrisy, but humility and love united. The humblest star twinkles most in the darkest night. The more rare humility and love united, the more radiant when they meet.

The wrath, that on conviction subsides into mildness, is the wrath of a generous mind.

He who is loved and commands love, when he corrects or is the cause of uneasiness, must be loveliness itself; and he who can love him in the

BOOK XII. moment of correction, is the most amiable of mortals.

The freer you feel yourself in the presence of another, the more free is he: who is free makes free.

Decided ends are sure signs of a decided character; and vague ends of a vague character.

He, who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence.

If you ask me which is the real hereditary sin of human nature, do you imagine I shall answer pride, or luxury, or ambition, or egotism? No; I shall say indolence: who conquers indolence will conquer all the rest.

Avoid the eye that discovers with rapidity the bad, and is slow to see the good.

Sagacity in selecting the good, and courage to honour it, according to its degree, determines your own degree of goodness.

Who cuts is easily wounded. The readier you are to offend, the sooner you are offended.

Who, inattentive to answers, accumulates questions, will not be informed, and who means not to be informed asks like a fool.

Who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly answers, and ceases when he has no more to say, is in possession of the best requisites of man.

The ambitious sacrifices all to what he terms honour, as the miser all to money. Who values gold above all, considers all else as trifling: who values fame above all, despises all but fame. The truly virtuous has an exclusive taste for virtue. A great passion has no partner.

He, who is respectable when thinking himself alone and free from observation, will be so before the eye of all the world.

He must be a man of worth who is not forsaken by the good, when the mean and malicious unite to oppress him.

The manner of giving shows the character of the giver more than the gift itself: there is a princely manner of giving, and a royal manner of accepting.

The poor, who envies not the rich, who pities his companions in poverty, and can spare something for him that is still poorer, is, in the realms of humanity, a king of kings.

He, who affects useless singularity, has a little mind.

All affectation is the vain and ridiculous attempt of poverty to appear rich.

All finery is a sign of littleness.

Slovenliness and indelicacy of character commonly go hand in hand.

The sloven has no respect either for himself or others.

The more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint: the affectation of sanctity is a a blotch on the face of piety.

He, who seeks those that are greater than himself, their greatness enjoys, and forgets his greatest qualities in their greater ones, is already truly great.

And truly little is he, who, absorbed in trifles, has no taste for the great, goes in perpetual quest of the little, and labours to impress inferiors with his own conceited greatness.