Chanakya Neethi Part 4/17..

1. These five: the life-span, the type of work, wealth, learning and the time
  of one's death are determined while one is in the womb.
2. Offspring, friends and relatives flee from a devotee of the Lord: yet
  those who follow him bring merit to their families through their
 devotion.
3. Fish, tortoises, and birds bring up their young by means of sight,
  attention and touch; so do saintly men afford protection to their
 associates by the same means.
4. As long as your body is healthy and under control and death is distant,
  try to save your soul; when death is immanent what can you do?
5. Learning is like a cow of desire. It, like her, yields in all seasons. Like a
  mother, it feeds you on your journey. Therefore learning is a hidden
 treasure.
6. A single son endowed with good qualities is far better than a hundred
  devoid of them. For the moon, though one, dispels the darkness, which
 the stars, though numerous, can not.
7. A still-born son as superior to a foolish son endowed with a long life.
  The first causes grief for but a moment while the latter like a blazing
 fire consumes his parents in grief for life.
8. Residing in a small village devoid of proper living facilities, serving a
  person born of a low family, unwholesome food, a frowning wife, a
 foolish son, and a widowed daughter burn the body without fire.
9. What good is a cow that neither gives milk nor conceives? Similarly,
  what is the value of the birth of a son if he becomes neither learned nor
 a pure devotee of the Lord?
10. When one is consumed by the sorrows of life, three things give him
relief: offspring, a wife, and the company of the Lord's devotees.
11. Kings speak for once, men of learning once, and the daughter is given
in marriage once. All these things happen once and only once.
12. Religious austerities should be practiced alone, study by two, and
singing by three. A journey should be undertaken by four, agriculture
by five, and war by many together.
13. She is a true wife who is clean (suci), expert, chaste, pleasing to the
husband, and truthful.
14. The house of a childless person is a void, all directions are void to one
who has no relatives, the heart of a fool is also void, but to a poverty
stricken man all is void.
15. Scriptural lessons not put into practice are poison; a meal is poison to
him who suffers from indigestion; a social gathering is poison to a
poverty stricken person; and a young wife is poison to an aged man.
16. That man who is without religion and mercy should be rejected. A guru
without spiritual knowledge should be rejected. The wife with an
offensive face should be given up, and so should relatives who are
without affection.
17. Constant travel brings old age upon a man; a horse becomes old by
being constantly tied up; lack of sexual contact with her husband brings
old age upon a woman; and garments become old through being left in
the sun.
18. Consider again and again the following: the right time, the right friends,
the right place, the right means of income, the right ways of spending,
and from whom you derive your power.
19. For the twice-born the fire (Agni) is a representative of God. The
Supreme Lord resides in the heart of His devotees. Those of average
intelligence (alpa-buddhi or kanista-adhikari) see God only in His sri-
murti, but those of broad vision see the Supreme Lord everywhere.