Baltasar Gracian Quotes

Be known for pleasing others, especially if you govern them. Ruling other has one advantage: you can do more good than anyone else.

True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.

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

Silence is the sanctuary of prudence.

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

Knowledge without wisdom is double folly.

A person of your century: Great persons are of their time. Not all were born into a period worthy of them, and many so born failed to benefit by it. Some merited a better century, for all that is good does not always triumph. Fashions have their periods and even the greatest virtues, their styles. But the philosopher, being ageless, has one advantage: Should this not prove the right century, many to follow will.

Hear, see, and be silent.

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

A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.

Friendship multiplies blessings and...soothes the soul.

There is none who cannot teach somebody something, and there is none so excellent but he is excelled.

For a thing to remain undone nothing more is needed than to think of it done.

To keep is more important than to make friends.

When you find Fortune favorable, stride boldly forward, for she favors the bold, and being a woman, the young.

There is no need to show your ability before everyone.

The greatest fool is he who thinks he is not one and all others are.

The true way is the middle one, halfway between deserving a place and pushing oneself into it.

Know how to keep anticipation alive: always strive to feed it, by letting the much promise more, and the one achievement be the announcement only of a greater. Put not all your reserves into the first throw; the great trick is to dole out strength, and to dole out mind, in such a fashion as to bring forward increasingly the fulfillment of what was expected of you.

Self knowledge is the beginning of self improvement.

Tis by no means the least of life's rules: To let things alone.

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.

Knowledge and courage take turns at greatness.

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

There must be something good in a thing that pleases so many; even if it cannot be explained, it is certainly enjoyed.

Know or listen to those who know.

Beauty and folly are generally companions.

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.

To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which you have even if you have nothing else.

Cultivate those who can teach you.

There are certain inessential activities-moths of precious time-and it is worse to busy yourself with the trivial than to do nothing.

Words are feminine; deeds are masculine.

Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste.

It is a great misfortune to be of use to nobody; scarcely less to be of use to everybody.

You should avoid making yourself too clear even in your explanations.

Put yourself on view. This brings your talents to light.

The happy are an exception who enjoy innocently their simple happiness.

You may be obliged to wage war, but not to use poisoned arrows.

Nature often lets us down when we most need her; let us turn to art.

Not he that adorns but he that adores makes a divinity.

Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.

Oh life, you should never had begun, but since you did, you should never end

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.

No' and 'Yes' are words quickly said, but they need a great amount of thought before you utter them.

Many of the things that bring delight should not be owned. They are more enjoyed if another's, than if yours; the first day they give pleasure to the owner, but in all the rest to the others: what belongs to another rejoices doubly, because it is without the risk of going stale and with the satisfaction of freshness. . . the possession of things not only diminishes their enjoyment, but augments their annoyance, whether shared or not shared.

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

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

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you.