Done unto you

You get advised to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The presumption is, I suppose, that the way you behave with others is the way they shall behave with you. It very seldom works that way because, if you are polite, generous and kind to others, they take it as their due; very very seldom do they think that any reciprocating is warranted.

Yet, there IS a thing where you can expect to be reciprocated. Yeah, yeah, it is true that most of the evil that you do unto others can get returned to you in spades sooner or later PROVIDED that the others are capable of doing those things. THIS, though, everyone is capable of doing and so...

Piranpazhi kooruvaan thanpazhi ullum tiran therindhu koorappadum - Tirukkural

He who speaks ill of others will find his defects discovered and publicized - Loose Translation

Ah! Well! One will have to be prim and proper, invariably refusing to talk ill of any facet of anybody's character unless he is among those present, I suppose. Become an almost insufferable prig, then. I mean, come on, take any average half an hour's conversation and I'll change my name if at least half of that was not disparaging of someone - your boss, the actors in the latest movie you saw, the troll on your social media post...

But, then, Tiru is not such an ass, really. What he means is that if you are the sort of person whose conversation is constantly about disparaging the people around you, then you shall yourself be the target of ridicule in absentia by all those around you.

Stands to reason, does it not? I mean, if someone points out a flaw in you, no matter how kindly, is your reaction not one of 'As though he is a paragon of perfection' and going on to thinking up all the times when the other person erred? Of course, our man is not disparaging you to your face but, after he has pulled down the third person to you, you'd be the ultimate idiot not to understand that he'd be pulling you down in someone else's company. Once THAT point is reached you'd then start looking up all the reasons why that chap is a bigger idiot/cheat/whatever than the rest of you.

So, yeah, if you want to eventually get a comprehensive listing of all your flaws - real and imaginary - make a career out of criticizing people in their absence. You'll be astonished at the number of defects one person can have and still remain functional!