Baltasar Gracian Quotes
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Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
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There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.
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There must be something good in a thing that pleases so many; even if it cannot be explained, it is certainly enjoyed.
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Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.
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A beautiful woman should break her mirror early.
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Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do.
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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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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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He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.
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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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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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I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.
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Folly consists not in committing Folly, but in being incapable of concealing it. All men make mistakes, but the wise conceal the blunders they have made, while fools make them public. Reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is seen. If you can’t be good, be careful.
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Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
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To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
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A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
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A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
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Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it.
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Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent.
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The things we remember best are those better forgotten.
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He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave.