Baltasar Gracian Quotes
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There are certain inessential activities-moths of precious time-and it is worse to busy yourself with the trivial than to do nothing.
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Possession hinders enjoyment. It merely gives you the right to keep things for or from others, and thus you gain more enemies than friends.
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Know what is evil, no matter how worshipped it may be. Let the man of sense not mistake it, even when clothed in brocade, or at times crowned in gold, because it cannot thereby hide its hypocrisy, for slavery does not lose its infamy, however noble the master.
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When a man's knowledge is deep, he speaks well of an enemy. Instead of seeking revenge, he extends unexpected generosity. He turns insult into humor, ... and astonishes his adversary who finds no reason not to trust him.
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Help others solve their problems; standing farther away, you can often see matters more clearly than they do. . . The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him or her help themselves.
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Every fool stands convinced; and everyone convinced is a fool. The faultier a person's judgement the firmer their convictions.
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It is a novel kind of supremacy, the best that life can offer, to have as servants by skill those who by nature are our masters.
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Take care to make things turn out well. Some people scruple more over pointing things in the right direction than over successfully reaching their goals. The disgrace of failure outweighs the diligence they showed. A winner is never asked for explanations.
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Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste.
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Honorable beginnings should serve to awaken curiosity, not to heighten people's expectations. We are much better off when reality surpasses our expectations, and something turns out better than we thought it would.
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One should cultivate good habits of memory, for it is capable of making existence a Paradise or an Inferno.
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Make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversation with the advantages of instruction.
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Some are satisfied to stand politely before the portals of Fortune and to await her bidding; better those who push forward, who employ their enterprise, who on the wings of their worth and valor seek to embrace luck, and to effectively gain her favor.
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Know how to choose well. Most of life depends thereon. It needs good taste and correct judgment, for which neither intellect nor study suffices.
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Politeness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.
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You can cultivate taste, as you can the intellect. Full understanding whets the appetite and desire, and, later, sharpens the enjoyment of possession.
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Two kinds of people are good at foreseeing danger: those who have learned at their own expense, and the clever people who learn a great deal at the expense of others.
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The passions are the humors of the mind, and the least excess sickens our judgment. If the disease spreads to the mouth, your reputation will be in danger.
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We have more days to live through than pleasures. Be slow in enjoyment, quick at work, for men see work ended with pleasure, pleasure ended with regret.