The Better Part of Valour

Srila Prabhupada has written in his Srimad Bhagavatam purport to 1.15.24, “Discretion is the better part of valour, and one must learn how to discriminate between actions which may be pleasing to the Lord and those which may not be pleasing to the Lord.” The first part of this quotation comes from a Shakespearean drama: “The better part of valour is discretion; in which better part I have saved my life.” (spoken by the character of Falstaff in King Henry IV – Part I, Act 5 Scene 4). Srila Prabhupada has spoken these words in other places also. The indication is – as another maxim states, “the tongue is the enemy of the throat.” In other words, a `wrong’ word can result in death or the cutting of one’s throat.