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.
Baltasar GracianFortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying any one long on her shoulders.
Baltasar GracianNever open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
Baltasar GracianCharacter and intelligence are the poles you talent spins on, displaying your gifts.
Baltasar GracianExcellence resides in quality, not in quantity. The best is always few and rare; much lowers value.
Baltasar GracianTwo 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.
Baltasar GracianThe wise have a solid sense of silence and the ability to keep a storehouse of secrets. Their capacity and character are respected.
Baltasar GracianHe who finds Fortune on his side should go briskly ahead, for she is wont to favor the bold.
Baltasar GracianWe 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.
Baltasar GracianKeep the extent of your abilities unknown.The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honored at all. He allows you to know them but not to comprehend them. No one must know the extent of his abilities, lest he be disappointed. No one ever has an opportunity of fathoming him entirely. For guesses and doubts about the extent of his talents arouse more veneration than accurate knowledge of them, be they ever so great.
Baltasar GracianNever risk your reputation on a single shot, for if you miss the loss is irreparable.
Baltasar GracianTake 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.
Baltasar GracianNo 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.
Baltasar GracianKeep expectation alive. Keep stirring it up. Let much promise more, and great deeds herald greater.
Baltasar GracianPoliteness and a sense of honor have this advantage: we bestow them on others without losing a thing.
Baltasar GracianIt takes more to make one sage today than it did to make the seven of Greece. And you need more resources to deal with a single person these days than with an entire nation in times past.
Baltasar GracianLet him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself.
Baltasar Gracian