Chanakya's Chant

by Ashwin Sanghi

‘First, they ignore you, second, they laugh at you, third, they fight you, and fourth—you win. That’s the fourth stage, my friend,

‘Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. I can see that you have it, son.’

One does not need to pluck fruit from a tree that is about to be chopped down. The fruit will fall by themselves. Focus on the bigger purpose and the rest of your manifesto will follow as a matter of course.’

politics is war without bloodshed and war is simply politics with bloodshed.’

‘The best person to advise one on how to protect a bank is a thief.

‘Character is what you are. Reputation is what people think you are. As long as he doesn’t change my character, I’ll be fine.’

‘The early bird gets the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese!

‘Negotiation must always be done from a position of strength, not weakness.

‘A Brahmin without knowledge or a Kshatriya without courage is of little use to society.’

Chanakya loved anger. It was a wonderfully energetic emotion and could be used very productively if channelled in the right direction.

sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.

‘Very often, one does not need to act, but simply give the impression that one is acting.

Wise men think all they say, fools say all they think. Chandra-gupta

‘Sometimes, to score a goal you have to kick the ball away from the goalpost.

Information is only of value when it isn’t in the public domain.

When a full house is adequate, why should I use straight flush?’

Why tell big lies when small ones can be just as effective?

The ends justify the means.’

‘The early bird catches the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese,’ said Chanakya cryptically.

‘Birds don’t build nests on fruitless trees, whores have no love for poor men, and citizens don’t obey a powerless king! Do your duty, O King!’

‘Any clod can have the facts, having an opinion is an art.’ Charles McCabe.

‘I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.’ Thomas Jefferson.

‘You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.’ Al Capone.

‘Be more concerned with your character than your repu-tation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.’ Dale Carnegie.

‘Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.’ Dorothy Galyean.

‘Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.’ Claude McDonald.

‘Married men live longer than single men. But married men are a lot more willing to die.’ Johnny Carson.

‘Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought’ is a quote from Sun Tsu’s The Art of War.

‘When you’ve got ’em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.’ Charles Colson.

‘Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.’ Napoleon Bonaparte.

‘A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a ton of explanation.’ H.H. Munro.