Tirukkural-On Virtue-Social Cooperation-Kural 214

Only those, who know and practise social co-operation, live their life;The others are as good as dead.

Man is born a social creature. Therefore, he alone lives, who functions as a social co-operator. Those who do not recognize this duty are to be counted as so many corpses that move.

The German Philosopher-poet Goethe conveyed the same idea in a similar context when he said:

'A useless life is only an earthly death'.