Baltasar Gracian Quotes

The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.

He that can live alone resembles the brute beast in nothing, the sage in much, and God in everything.

It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.

The wise have a solid sense of silence and the ability to keep a storehouse of secrets. Their capacity and character are respected.

Know or listen to those who know.

To find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.

There are friendships merely for pleasure, some for the exchange of ideas. Rarest are those friends of one's inmost self.

A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity.

Always act as if you were seen.

It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.

The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.

Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.

One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity.

Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong.

Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness.

Truth is for the minority.

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.

The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him help himself.

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.

Harness the imagination, for she is the whole of happiness.

Words are feminine; deeds are masculine.

At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.

A man of honour should never forget what he is because he sees what others are.

Know how to ask. There is nothing more difficult for some people, nor for others, easier.

True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.

Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone.

Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets.

Friendship multiplies blessings and...soothes the soul.

To oblige people often costs little and helps much.

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.

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.

Life is a warfare against the malice of others.

The path to greatness is along with others.

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.

Know how to choose well. Most of life depends thereon. It needs good taste and correct judgment, for which neither intellect nor study suffices.

Know how to use evasion. That is how smart people get out of difficulties.

Every fool stands convinced; and everyone convinced is a fool. The faultier a person's judgement the firmer their convictions.

Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.

He who puts off nothing till tomorrow has done a great deal.

Hurry is the weakness of fools.

Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.

Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.

Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself.

Mix a little mystery with everything, for mystery arouses veneration.

He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave.

It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.

Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second.

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.