Baltasar Gracian Quotes
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Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.
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Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.
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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.
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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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A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens a truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself.
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It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.
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Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.
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Many get the repute of being witty but thereby lose the credit of being sensible. Jest has its little hour, seriousness should have all the rest.
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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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Many pleasant things are better when they belong to someone else. When things belong to others, we enjoy them twice as much, without the risk of losing them, and with the pleasure of novelty.
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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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The heaven of the envied is hell for the envious. [...because they focus on what they don't have rather than being grateful for what they have, which is always better than some others.]
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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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The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.
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You have to appear wiser and more prudent than is required by the people you are dealing with if you want to give a high opinion of yourself.
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No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of caution inside, on the other side of the keyhole.
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La galantería y la honra tienen esta ventaja, que se quedan: aquélla en quien la usa, ésta en quien la haze.
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When you find Fortune favorable, stride boldly forward, for she favors the bold, and being a woman, the young.
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Attain and maintain a reputation, for it is the usufruct of fame. A stiff climb, for it is the issue of excellence, as rare as mediocrity is common.
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Be known for pleasing others, especially if you govern them. Ruling other has one advantage: you can do more good than anyone else.
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Lies always come first, dragging fools along by their irreparable vulgarity. Truth always lags last, limping along on the arm of time.
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There is no wilderness like a life without friends; friendship multiplies blessings and minimizes misfortunes; it is a unique remedy against adversity, and it soothes the soul.
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One deceit needs many others, and so the whole house is built in the air and must soon come to the ground
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Never participate in the secrets of those above you; you think you share the fruit, and you share the stones - the confidence of a prince is not a grant, but a tax