Thirukkural-On Wealth-Avoidance Of Faults-Kural-433

People, who fear disgrace, should avoid even tiny millet-sized faults,
Treating them as of major dimension like a palm tree.

In Kural 428, Valluvar had said that it would be folly not to fear what should be feared. In this Kural, Valluvar further goes on to say that persons, who entertain such legitimate fear of matters connected with ethics and morals, will take pains to avoid even small faults as if these were mighty ones as big as the palm tree.

The idea implied is also that an attitude of tolerance to small faults should be not allowed to develop, as it is likely to generate in the personality an undesirable snow-balling effect, of building up an enormous degree of tolerance in due course, of bigger and more monstrous faults without the least concern.

On the other hand, punctilious avoidance of small faults will build up a systematic attitude of resistance to all faults, small and big, and is likely to build up a personality free of all faults.