Page:The Kural or The Maxims Of Tiruvalluvar.pdf/261

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
 
THE KURAL

976. It is not in the grain of small men to revere the great and earn their good will and favour.

977. If fortune falleth to the lot of the little-minded their insolence will know no bounds.

978. Greatness is ever unpretending and modest: but littleness vaunteth its merits before all the world.

979. Greatness showeth condescension unto all: but littleness is the very acme of insolence.

980. Greatness is always for screening the infirmities of others : but littleness will talk nothing but scandal.

202