atidānād balir baddho naṣṭo mānāt suyodhanaḥ |
vinaṣṭo rāvaṇo laulyād ati sarvatra varjayet ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti)
“Bali was bound by excessive giving. Duryodhana was ruined by [excessive] pride. Rāvaṇa was ruined by [excessive] greediness. [Therefore,] Excess should be given up in all respects.”
yatnāgraha vinā bhakti nā janmāya preme |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.24.165)
“Without earnestness and determination, bhakti does not give rise to prema.”
ajñāna-nivṛtteḥ prāk pauruṣa-tyāgo māndyam eva |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.19.13)
“Giving up exertion [alt., valor] before the cessation of ignorance is simply foolishness.”
udyoginaṁ puruṣa-siṁham upaiti lakṣmīr
daivena deyam iti kāpuruṣā vadanti |
daivaṁ nihatya kuru pauruṣamātma-śaktyā
yatne kṛte yadi na sidhyati ko’tra doṣaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.33)
“An endeavoring, lion-like person attains good fortune (lakṣmī). Wretches say, ‘Fortune must be given by destiny.’ Set aside destiny and exert yourself with your full energy. If you make an effort but are not successful, what fault is there in that?”
na dharma-śāstraṁ paṭhatīti kāraṇaṁ
na cāpi vedādhyayanaṁ durātmanaḥ |
svabhāva evātra tathātiricyate
yathā prakṛtyā madhuraṁ gavāṁ payaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 17)
“Neither reciting dharma-śāstras nor studying the Veda are means for [reforming] a wicked person. The svabhāva [i.e., one’s conditioned nature] alone prevails herein, just as cows milk is naturally sweet.”
muhūrtam api jīveta naraḥ śuklena karmaṇā |
na kalpam api kṛṣṇena loka-dvaya-virodhinā ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍārgāra)
“Let a person live for even a moment engaged in virtuous conduct and not for even a kalpa (epoch) in wickedness which is detrimental to both worlds [i.e., one’s present life and one’s afterlife].”
vidyā vivādāya dhanaṁ madāya
śaktiḥ pareṣāṁ paripīḍanāya |
khalasya sādhor viparītam etaj
jñānāya dānāya ca rakṣaṇāya ||
(Subhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A wicked person’s knowledge is [only used] for disputation, wealth is [only used] for conceit, and power is [only used] for troubling others. It is the opposite with a virtuous person [sādhu], where these are [used only] for understanding, charity, and protection [of others].”
durjanena samaṁ sakhyaṁ vairaṁ cāpi na kārayet |
uṣṇo dahati cāṅgāraḥ śīto kṛṣṇāyate karam ||
(Hitopadeśa: 3.81)
“Make neither friendship nor enmity with a wicked person, who is comparable to a piece of coal, which when hot burns your hand and when cold turns it black.”
manasy anyad vacasy anyat karmaṇy anyad durātmanām |
manasy ekaṁ vacasy ekaṁ karmaṇy ekaṁ mahātmanām ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.102)
“The wicked think one thing, say something else, and do yet another thing. Great souls think, say, and do one [and the same] thing.”
apriyam uktāḥ purūṣāḥ prayatante dvi-guṇam apriyaṁ vaktum |
tasmād avācyam apriyam apriyam aśrotu-kāmena ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2192)
“People to whom something unpleasant is spoken [typically] try hard to speak something twice as unpleasant [in response]. Therefore, the unpleasant should not be spoken by one who does not wish to hear the unpleasant.”
