Baltasar Gracian Quotes
-
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.
-
A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
-
Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.
-
The things we remember best are those better forgotten.
-
It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice.
-
A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.
-
Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.
-
To oblige persons often costs little and helps much.
-
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.
-
Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.
-
Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
-
If to talk to oneself when alone is folly, it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others.
-
True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.
-
Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.
-
Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose.
-
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.
-
Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.
-
Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.
-
Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
-
He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well.
-
True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.
-
When desire dies, fear is born.
-
Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
-
Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.