Tirukural

CHAPTER 13

Possession of Self-Control

121

Self-control will place one among the Gods, while lack of it will lead to deepest darkness.§

122

Guard your self-control as a precious treasure, for there is no greater wealth in life than this.§

123

Comprehending and acquiring self-control confers upon one the esteem of wise men.§

124

More imposing than a mountain is the greatness of a man who, steadfast in domestic life, has mastered self-control.§

125

Humility is a precious quality in all people, but it has a rare richness in the rich.§

126

Like a tortoise withdrawing five limbs into its shell, those who restrain the five senses in one life will find safe shelter for seven.§

127

Whatever you may fail to guard, guard well your tongue, for flawed speech unfailingly invokes anguish and affliction.§

128

The goodness of all one’s virtues can be lost by speaking even a single word of injury.§

129

The wound caused by fire heals in its time; the burn inflicted by an inflamed tongue never heals.§

130

Virtue will wait in the streets to meet a man possessed of learning and self-discipline, his anger subdued.§