Baltasar Gracian Quotes
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Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it.
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Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
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Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets.
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A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
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It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.
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Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.
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To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
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Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy; in the one case that confidence may not fall asleep, in the other that it may not be dismayed.
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Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.
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True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.
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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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Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.
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Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.
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Watchfulness is the only guard against cunning. Be intent on his intentions. Many succeed in making others do their own affairs, and unless you possess the key to their motives you may at any moment be forced to take their chestnuts out of the fire to the damage of your own fingers.
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Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
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Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.
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Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
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Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
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When desire dies, fear is born.
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Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.
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He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.
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If to talk to oneself when alone is folly, it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others.
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Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.
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Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.