Energy
Ulluva Thellaam Uyarvullal Matradhu / Thallinun Thallaamai Neerththu
Classical English couplet — “Whate'er you ponder, let your aim be loftly still,Fate cannot hinder always, thwart you as it will”
What it says in plain words
“Let every thought aim high. Even if you fall short of a great ambition, the reaching itself lifts you above the safe and ordinary.”
The classical Tamil reading
எண்ணுவதெல்லாம் உயர்வைப்பற்றியே எண்ண வேண்டும், அவ் வுயர்வுக் கைகூடாவிட்டாலும் அவ்வாறு எண்ணுவதை விடக்கூடாது.
An expanded Tamil interpretation
நினைப்பதெல்லாம் உயர்ந்த நினைப்பாகவே இருக்கவேண்டும் அது கைகூடாவிட்டாலும் அதற்காக அந்த நினைப்பை விடக்கூடாது
The ethical and philosophical heart
Ambition is not arrogance. Valluvar argues that the elevation of one's thoughts is itself transformative — the trying is half the prize. Mediocre aims guarantee mediocre lives even when achieved. To think high is, in a real sense, to become higher; even partial achievement of a great ambition exceeds total achievement of a small one.
In personal life, work and society
- Personal
- Set goals that scare you a little.
- Workplace
- Aim for the harder version of the problem.
- Family
- Speak to children about what they could become, not only what they did wrong.
- Society
- Imagine the country you'd want in fifty years and live as if it were already arriving.
How to apply this today
- Decision-making
- Choose the option that makes you a bigger person, not just a richer one.
- Integrity
- Keep your ambition tied to service, not status.
- Communication
- Articulate a vision your team can grow into.
- Leadership
- Borrow ambition from the future and lend it to your team today.
- Governance
- Bold national ambitions create the muscles to achieve smaller ones.
For leaders and teams
The size of a leader's thoughts sets the ceiling for the team. Raise the ceiling on purpose.
Something to sit with
“What is one ambition you've shrunk to feel safe — and what would happen if you restored it today?”