Thiruvalluvar திருவள்ளுவர்

about 2,000 years ago · Tamil country, South India

A well in sandy ground yields water as deep as you dig; a person's wisdom wells up as much as they learn.

தொட்டனைத் தூறும் மணற்கேணி மாந்தர்க்குக் கற்றனைத் தூறும் அறிவு.

Tirukkural 396

In the same thread

c. 400 BC · Kos, ancient Greece

Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult.

ὁ βίος βραχὺς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρὴ, ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξὺς, ἡ δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερὴ, ἡ δὲ κρίσις χαλεπή.

Aphorisms 1.1

early 3rd century BC · Athens, ancient Greece

Let no one put off philosophy while young, nor grow weary of it when old. For no one is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

Μήτε νέος τις ὢν μελλέτω φιλοσοφεῖν, μήτε γέρων ὑπάρχων κοπιάτω φιλοσοφῶν· οὔτε γὰρ ἄωρος οὐδείς ἐστιν οὔτε πάρωρος πρὸς τὸ κατὰ ψυχὴν ὑγιαῖνον.

Letter to Menoeceus, in Lives of the Philosophers 10.122

c. 1010 · Tus, Persia

Whoever has knowledge has power. Through knowledge the old heart grows young.

توانا بود هر که دانا بود ز دانش دل پیر برنا بود

Shahnameh (Book of Kings), prologue

about 2,000 years ago · Tamil country, South India

Learn flawlessly what is worth learning, and having learned it, live in keeping with it.

கற்க கசடறக் கற்பவை கற்றபின் நிற்க அதற்குத் தக.

Tirukkural 391