Baltasar Gracian Quotes

The wise does at once what the fool does at last.

Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it.

Silence is the sanctuary of prudence.

Politeness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.

A gilded No is more satisfactory than a dry Yes.

There is no need to show your ability before everyone.

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

To keep is more important than to make friends.

The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.

Possession hinders enjoyment. It merely gives you the right to keep things for or from others, and thus you gain more enemies than friends.

To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth.

All victories breed, and that over your superior is foolish or fatal.

Quit while you're ahead. All the best gamblers do.

Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.

Exaggeration is a branch of lying.

If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.

Nothing arouses ambition so much in the heart as the trumpet-clang of another's fame.

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.

Many people who pretend to be very busy have the least to do.

The more merit, the less affection.

Everything foreign is respected, partly because it comes from afar, partly because it is ready made and perfect.

Passion colors all that it touches in its own hues.

Most do violence to their natural aptitude, and thus attain superiority in nothing.

Admiration is the basis of ignorance.

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.

The sage never seems to know his own merits, for only by not noticing them can you call others' attention to them.

To be at ease is better than to be at business.

Have Friends. 'Tis a second existence.

Know the great men of your age.

Surfeits of happiness are fatal.

The heaven of the envied is hell for the envious.

Superiority is always detested.

Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance.

When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see.

None is so perfect that he does not need at times the advice of others.

Do pleasant things yourself, but unpleasant things through others.

God Himself chasteneth not with a rod but with time.

Courtesy is the politic witchery of great personages.

Mediocrity obtains more with application than superiority without it.

I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.

Share weight and woe, for misfortune falls with double force on him that stands alone.

Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.

There are rules to luck, not everything is chance for the wise; luck can be helped by skill.

The wise person finds enemies more useful than the fool does friends .

Trust your heart, especially when it is a strong one.

Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art.

Even monarchs have need of authors, and fear their pens more than ugly women the painter's pencil.

The crutch of Time accomplishes more than the club of Hercules.

Censure is like the lightning which strikes the highest mountains.

Work is the price which is paid for reputation.