Wisdom for startups – through Indian proverbs!
Thursday July 04, 2013 , 6 min Read
One of the other hats I wear is founder of the World of Proverbs project, to document witty proverbs from different languages via books and tweets (currently consisting of three books: Indian Proverbs, African Proverbs and Singapore Proverbs).Proverbs are such brilliant distillations of human behaviour and activities through the ages that I find many of them relevant for fields ranging from knowledge management and leadership to entrepreneurship and self-help.
Many of the management principles and values for startups are evocatively captured in Indian proverbs: learn from your experience, don’t over-plan, be flexible, be creative, don’t be reckless, work hard in teams, learn from failure, don’t be too proud to ask for help, sell well, manage your money carefully, don’t borrow unless you have to, learn by doing, get new ideas by travelling, be persistent, learn from customers, start simple but scale fast, don’t become arrogant, be grateful to those who help you along your journey, and pray for luck!
Here is a sampler of wisdom for startups and entrepreneurs, through our very own ageless and timeless Indian proverbs!
Experience is as important for knowledge as education.
- Tamil proverb
If everybody pushes together even a mountain can be moved.
- Malayalam proverb
To lose is to learn.
- Hindi proverb
It is not a shame to fall but to remain fallen.
- Tamil proverb
If you really need a job to be done, be prepared to fall at the feet of a donkey.
- Kannada proverb
Listen to popular opinion but follow your own mind.
- Marathi proverb
Even the best painter starts with a blank wall.
- Tamil proverb
Be slow to promise but quick to perform.
- Kannada proverb
A beautiful vendor can even sell fermented juice.
- Tamil proverb
If all get into the palanquin, who will be the bearers?
- Telugu proverb
Nobody respects an empty pocket.
- Bhojpuri proverb
Just yearning for the fruit in the tree will not bring it to your hands.
- Tamil proverb
Personal experience is as important to follow as the scriptures.
- Marathi proverb
A second of help is better than hours of advice.
- Tamil proverb
To live on credit is to warm oneself at a straw fire.
- Hindustani proverb
Wait till you get the silk sari before you discard the cotton one.
- Tamil proverb
You must travel to gain.
- Hindustani proverb
An old patient is better than a new doctor.
- Kannada proverb
Don’t give up climbing the coconut tree when you are half-way up.
- Konkani proverb
Experience is the mother of all knowledge.
- Hindi proverb
Do not dig a well only after the house catches fire.
- Kannada proverb
There will always be a ditch in front of a person in a hurry.
- Punjabi proverb
Wherever there is cow dung, that is where you will find your bread.
- Mewari proverb
Knowledge is higher than power.
- Hindi proverb
Elders’ advice is like gooseberries; at first sour then sweet.
- Malayalam proverb
When the student is ready, the master appears.
- Buddhist proverb
If you have good luck even an empty pot will be filled with gold.
- Tamil proverb
Self-praise is no recommendation.
- Hindi proverb
Studying is sweat, but knowledge is sweet.
- Tamil proverb
Even a squirrel can provide the help that he is capable of.
- Malayalam proverb
Let us look for gems together but remain friends.
- Sindhi proverb
You cannot cook rice well by just dreaming about rice.
- Tamil proverb
Iron and knowledge will get spoiled if they are not used.
- Malayalam proverb
When there are mangoes in the tree, stones are money.
- Hindustani proverb
One's knowledge is only a handful of sand, there is still an ocean of knowledge to learn.
- Tamil proverb
He who gives advice should also be able to follow advice.
- Punjabi proverb
You can’t quench your thirst by swallowing your saliva.
- Bhojpuri proverb
The cow in the printed page will not eat grass. It will also not give milk.
- Malayalam proverb
There is no need to name the son before the wife is pregnant.
- Telugu proverb
You cannot cook one half of the chicken and expect the other half to lay eggs.
- Sanskrit proverb
The stomach cannot be filled with the pickings of the teeth.
- Marathi proverb
Just as the sky has only one sun, a man can have only one master.
- Tamil proverb
Of what is a toothless man in a murruku shop?
- Tamil proverb
Be like a bee, taking only the nectar from your experiences.
- Tamil proverb
Cut your coat according to your cloth.
- Hindi proverb
The ladle will be full only when the pot is full.
- Tamil proverb
The wise never starve when fools have money.
- Bhojpuri proverb
If a ship sinks, salvage the iron.
- Sindhi proverb
Learning is as hard to digest as iron.
- Hindustani proverb
Do not wait for the lake to dry to catch the fish.
- Tamil proverb
Do not kick the ladder which got you to the top.
- Tamil proverb
The nouveau-rich person demands an umbrella to be held for him even at night.
- Telugu proverb
What you know is as big as the size of your palm, what you do not know is as big as the size of the universe.
- Tamil proverb
Better poverty before wealth than poverty after wealth.
- Tamil proverb
The one who teaches is the giver of eyes.
- Tamil proverb
Strong winds may blow the tree down, but the grass will still stand.
- Hindi proverb
If you are buying a cow, make sure that the price of the tail is included.
- Tamil proverb
A picture of a gourd is not useful to cook with.
- Tamil proverb
Even water can be held in a sieve, if you wait till it is frozen.
- Tamil proverb
God gives food to every bird but does not throw it into the nest.
- Hindi proverb
An honest millionaire has dignity even in a loincloth.
- Hindustani proverb
Money in the hand is dosa in the mouth.
- Tamil proverb
The eye of a needle is empty but it clothes mankind.
- Hindustani proverb
One man's beard is on fire, and another man warms his hands on it.
- Tamil proverb
Wisdom comes after being ruined.
- Kannada proverb
Put jasmine in your hair after there is food on the table.
- Kannada proverb
Known is a drop, unknown is an ocean.
- Tamil proverb
If you have luck even your rooster will lay eggs.
- Tamil proverb
If you are ignorant at least listen to others’ advice.
- Tamil proverb
A wise man does not quarrel with his bread and butter.
- Hindi proverb
A house says ‘Build me and see,’ a marriage says ‘Try me and see.’
- Marathi proverb
Believe what you see and not just what you hear.
- Tamil proverb
Fluffy cotton can become the strongest fibre.
- Tamil proverb
There must be intelligence even in copying.
- Hindi proverb
He who does not fall does not rise.
- Hindi proverb
A wallet without money is just leather.
- Tamil proverb
The wearer knows best where the shoe pinches.
- Hindi proverb
One plus one make eleven.
- Kashmiri proverb
The bitters of life, like amla, have sweet after-taste.
- Hindi proverb
Wade in the lake only as far as you can see the bottom.
- Tamil proverb
Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.
- Hindi proverb
Make not your sauce till you have caught your fish.
- Hindi proverb
Without luck, ability is nothing.
- Hindi proverb
Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves.
- Hindi proverb
A day of experience is better than a thousand words of advice.
- Tamil proverb
[Follow YourStory's research director Madanmohan Rao on Twitter http://twitter.com/MadanRao]
