Baltasar Gracian Quotes
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Begin with another's to end with your own.
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At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.
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Know how to play the card of contempt. It is the most politic kind of revenge. For there are many of whom we should have known nothing if their distinguished opponents had taken no notice of them. There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.
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There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
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Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to be a slave, a slave to every man Above all, keep yourself free of commitments and obligations - they are the device of another to get you into his power
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He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.
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Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
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Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do.
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A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.
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Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.
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Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn't being applauded when you arrive - for that is common - but being missed when you leave.
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Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
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Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.
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Work is the price which is paid for reputation.
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To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.
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I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.
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Treat your enemies with courtesy, and you'll see how valuable it really is. It costs little but pays a nice dividend: those who honor are honored. Politeness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.
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Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
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A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
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The things we remember best are those better forgotten.
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Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.
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Wise men appreciate all men, for they see the good in each and know how hard it is to make anything good.
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He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave.
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There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.