Baltasar Gracian Quotes

They make the greatest show of what they have done, who have done least.

The sage has one advantage: he is immortal. If this is not his century, many others will be.

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.

The great art of giving consists in this the gift should cost very little and yet be greatly coveted, so that it may be the more highly appreciated.

If you are wise, live as you can; if you cannot, live as you would.

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.

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

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

Passion colors all that it touches in its own hues.

A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity.

Surfeits of happiness are fatal.

One deceit needs many others, and so the whole house is built in the air and must soon come to the ground

Wisdom is immortal. She can wait forever, but you cannot.

Have Friends. 'Tis a second existence.

The truest wild beasts live in the most populous places.

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.

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

One who was abhorred by all in prosperity is adored by all in adversity.

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.

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

Exaggeration is a branch of lying.

There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.

To oblige people often costs little and helps much.

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

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

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

Never lose your self-respect, nor be too familiar with yourself when you are alone. Let your integrity itself be your own standard of rectitude, and be more indebted to the severity of your own judgment of yourself than to all external percepts. Desist from unseemly conduct, rather out of respect for your own virtue than for the strictures of external authority.

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

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.

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.

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

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

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

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

Do not show your wounded finger for everything will knock up against it.

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

The more merit, the less affection.

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.

Few are the friends of a mans self, most those of his circumstances.

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

Evil report carries further than any applause.

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

Maturity of mind is best shown in slow belief.

Make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversation with the advantages of instruction.

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.

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

Be first the master of yourself

Yes and no are soon said, but give much to think over.