Sita: Warrior of Mithila (Ram Chandra #2)

by Amish Tripathi

You must use your heart to decide the destination, but use your head to plot the journey.

Too much of anything creates an imbalance in life.

A society must always aim for balance. It needs intellectuals, it needs warriors, it needs traders, it needs artists, and it needs skilled workers. If it empowers one group too much or another too little, it is headed for chaos.’

If I am pragmatic, then I should be open to every school of philosophy. And accept only those parts that make sense to me, while rejecting other bits that don’t. I should learn from any philosophy that can help me fulfil my karma.’

Sages of yore, in their wisdom, had suggested that Old Sanskrit should not have a written script. They felt that the written word was inferior to the spoken; that it reduced the ability of the mind to understand concepts.

‘Running away is never the solution. Confront your problems. Manage them. That is the way of the warrior.’

‘Don’t look back. Look to the future. Build your future, don’t grieve for your past.’

‘It is said that we come with nothing into this world, and take nothing back. But that’s not true. We carry our karma with us. And we leave behind our reputation, our name.

‘The worst enemy a man can ever have is the one who was once his best friend.’

I just want a simple life. I just want to be happy. I don’t want to be great.’

“A leader is not just one who gives his people what they want. He must also be the one who teaches his people to be better than they imagined themselves to be.”

‘Life is not only about what we want, but also about what we must do. We don’t just have rights. We also have duties.’

‘I understand. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.’

‘I’d heard something once: Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’