12.16 A man can definitely learn something or the other from the living things around him. Chanakya has established this saying in this shloka. He says that one must imbibe knowledge from wherever he can. Princes have politeness and courtesy. Imbibing these qualities makes man kind hearted. We can learn the art of affectionate-cum-sweet speech from scholars and lying from gamblers. Also we must imbibe the traits of deception/cunning from women.
