One of the most beautiful Hindu proverbs is about adversity. It goes like this: “There isn’t a tree in the world that the wind hasn’t shaken.” It’s such a beautiful metaphor that reminds you that no one can escape adversity. It’s completely unavoidable.

Bad times are like a wind that shakes the branches and tests their stability. What really stands out in this message is the fact that it doesn’t matter what kind of life you live, you’ll always be vulnerable to its attacks. But you shouldn’t see them as strange or unusual, because adversity is just part of life.

The topic of internal peace is one of the most common topics in Hindu proverbs. All its religions and philosophies talk a lot about this balanced state where you become calm, and come to a place of peace with yourself and the world.

That’s why there’s a Hindu proverb that goes: “A peaceful heart sees a celebration in any village.” What it means is that it all starts from within. If your spirit is peaceful, you’ll look at the outside world with a positive perspective. In the same way, internal wars will make you see everything much darker.

Here’s what one Hindu proverb says about reading: “It is always good for the ignorant to read books. It is even better when they retain what they have read. It is better still when they have understood it. But it is best when they do all those things, and put their hands  to work.”

This time the message is about giving an equal importance to learning and taking action based on your knowledge. It sets up a scale that starts with reading. Then it moves on to internalizing what you’ve read. And it finally ends with taking action based on what you now know.

Most of these philosophies line up in a similar place. They all talk about solidarity and brotherliness as the supreme values. These are the values that make us into one race dealing with the same hardships, with the same destiny.

That’s why there’s one Hindu proverbs that goes: “Trees refuse no one their shade, not even the woodcutter.” It’s a poetic way of saying that this task of helping people even includes the people who’ve hurt you.

There aren’t many easy pathways to happiness. But there’s no doubt that one path is to do noble things for other people. There’s a Hindu proverb that has this same message. It says: “True happiness consists of making other people happy.”

Other people’s happiness always play a part in personal happiness. It’s much easier to feel good about life and the world when the people around you are happy. No one who wants to harm other people can ever really achieve it, either.

Everything in life is linked together. Things happen because there’s something that leads them to happen. But most of us tend to see all these different parts of life as isolated incidents. There are so many times when we don’t notice that we’re just reaping what we’re sowing.

There’s also a Hindu proverb that makes a reference to this. “The good you did yesterday will bring you happiness when you wake.” This is about the idea that being good to other people will bring you personal happiness.

The personal and universal aren’t exclusive concepts. They’re always deeply linked. They have a mutual influence on each other, and you can’t pull them apart. That’s why there are always so many personal elements in universal things. Of course, personal things are also their own universe.

That’s exactly what one Hindu proverb says. “God too hides himself in the ocean within a drop of water.” You shouldn’t take the word “God” literally in this quote. What it’s really talking about is a “higher power,” not a specific god.

In the end, all these Hindu proverbs have two things in common: beauty and depth. Hindu culture also shows itself off in a ton of different ways, as you can see in these fascinating statements that can help magnify your spirit.