Quotes by
Baltasar Gracian |
1601-1658 , Spanish writer
Spanish Jesuit philosopher and writer. His writings were praised by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. His main work was Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia, commonly translated as The Art of Worldly Wisdom, composed of three hundred maxims with comments.
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Quotations
| • | Good things, when short, are twice as good. 5 |
| • | In twenty years the feelings reigns, in the thirty years a talent reigns, in the forty years a reason reigns. 5 |
| • | Always act as if you were seen. |
| • | Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything wrong. |
| • | The greatest service you can render someone else is helping him help himself. |
| • | Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not. |
| • | Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. |
| • | Put a grain of boldness into everything you do. |
| • | Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side. |
| • | Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. |
| • | 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. |
| • | Respect yourself if you would have others respect you. |
| • | Know or listen to those who know. |
| • | A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity. |
| • | 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. |
| • | Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness. |
| • | To overvalue something is a form of lying. |
| • | Words are feminine; deeds are masculine. |
| • | Life is a warfare against the malice of others. |
| • | It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it. |
| • | Put yourself on view. This brings your talents to light. |
| • | Better mad with the rest of the world than wise alone. |
| • | The wise person would rather see others needing him than thanking him. |
| • | The wise does at once what the fool does at last. |
| • | Hurry is the weakness of fools. |
| • | Do pleasant things yourself, but unpleasant things through others. |
| • | The truth is generally seen, rarely heard. |
| • | Never have a companion that casts you in the shade. |
| • | Never compete with a man who has nothing to lose. |
| • | The path to greatness is along with others. |
| • | Wise men appreciate all men, for they see the good in each and know how hard it is to make anything good. |
| • | Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep it in check. |
| • | I strive to be brief, and I become obscure. |
| • | Let the first impulse pass, wait for the second. |
| • | The things we remember best are those better forgotten. |
| • | It is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterward. |
| • | Know how to ask favors. There is nothing more difficult for some people, nor for others, easier. |
| • | There's no greater absurdity than taking everything seriously. |
| • | The right kind of leisure is better than the wrong kind of work. |
| • | Be extraordinary in your excellence, if you like, but be ordinary in your display of it. |
| • | Be open to suggestion, no one is so perfect that would not need advice from time to time. |
| • | Diligence removes impossibilities. |
| • | Not believing others implies that you yourself are deceitful. The liar suffers twice: he neither believes nor is believed. |
| • | Better to be cheated by the price than by the merchandise. |
| • | The one rule for pleasing: whet the appetite, keep people hungry. |
