apriyam uktāḥ purūṣāḥ prayatante dvi-guṇam apriyaṁ vaktum

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.”

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