One should not inhabit a country where one gets no respect, no opportunity to earn once’s livelihood, where one has no friends or relatives, or from where one can not acquire knowledge.

This saying is commonly attributed to Chanakya (Kauṭilya), the ancient Indian strategist and teacher associated with the rise of the Mauryan state. In modern quotation collections it is usually presented as a maxim from the Chanakya tradition of nīti (practical ethics and statecraft), advising where a person should choose to live. The sentiment fits the genre of concise, worldly counsel found in texts transmitted under Chanakya’s name, which often weigh social standing, economic security, learning, and supportive relationships as prerequisites for a stable life. However, the quote is typically encountered in English paraphrase rather than as a clearly traceable line from a specific, securely identified Sanskrit verse.

The maxim treats residence as a pragmatic moral choice rather than a purely patriotic or sentimental one. A place that denies basic dignity (“respect”), economic means (“livelihood”), social support (“friends or relatives”), and intellectual growth (“acquire knowledge”) is portrayed as unfit for a flourishing life. The four criteria map a holistic view of well-being: honor, material security, community, and education. Implicitly, the quote also critiques environments—political, social, or cultural—that block mobility and learning, suggesting that self-preservation and self-cultivation may justify leaving. In the Chanakya/nīti frame, wisdom includes selecting conditions that enable virtue and success.