Baltasar Gracian Quotes & Sayings

#1. One must pass through the circumference of time before arriving at the center of opportunity.

#2. If to talk to oneself when alone is folly, it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others.

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#3. Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious, but the superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal. This is a lesson that the stars in the sky teach us - they may be related to the sun, and just as brilliant, but they never appear in her company.

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#4. The worthless usually live long.

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#5. Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand.

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

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#7. It is a great deed to leave nothing for tomorrow.

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#8. Everyone could have been pre-eminent at something, if they had been aware of their best quality.

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#9. Do not be held a cheat, even though it is impossible to
live today without being one. Let your greatest cunning lie in covering up what
looks like cunning.

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#10. Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.

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

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#12. Some would be sages if they did not believe they were so already.

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

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#14. Knowledge without courage is sterile.

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#15. Knowledge and courage take turns at greatness.

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

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

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

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#19. Words are feminine; deeds are masculine.

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

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#21. The more pains you take with a thing, the more should you conceal them, so that it may appear to arise spontaneously from your own natural character.

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

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#23. There is no beauty unaided, no excellence that does not sink to the barbarous, unless saved by art.

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#24. We live by information, not by sight.

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#25. True friendshipmultiplies 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 a good fortune;to keep him is a blessing

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#26. A man is judged by his friends, for the wise and the foolish have never agreed.

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#27. Censure is like the lightning which strikes the highest mountains.

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

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#29. A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.

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#30. Keep expectation alive. Keep stirring it up. Let much promise more, and great deeds herald greater.

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#31. It requires as much caution to tell the truth as to conceal it.

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

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

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#34. There's no greater absurdity than taking everything seriously.

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#35. Knowledge without wisdom is double folly.

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#36. Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.

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#37. The wise are always impatient, for he that increases knowledge increases impatience of folly.

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#38. Chance has something to say in everything, even how to write a good letter

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#39. A prudent man will think more important what fate has conceded to him, than what it has denied.

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#40. 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.

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#41. Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.

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#42. Be a combination of a dove and the serpent; not a monster, but a prodigy.

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#43. The wise have a solid sense of silence and the ability to keep a storehouse of secrets. Their capacity and character are respected.

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

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#45. A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens a truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself.

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

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#47. Deal with people from whom you can learn

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#48. Character and intelligence are the poles you talent spins on, displaying your gifts.

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#49. The whole of life should be a process of deliberation to choose the right course. Reflection and foresight provide the means of living in anticipation.

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

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

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#52. 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.

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

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#54. True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.

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

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

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#57. The greatest wisdom often consist in ignorance.

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#58. 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.

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#59. Do not make mistakes about character. Better be cheated in the price than in the quality of goods.

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#60. Many people spend time studying the properties of animals or herbs; how much more important it would be to study those of people, with whom we must live or die!

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#61. The best skill at cards is knowing when to discard.

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#62. Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.

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#63. Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.

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

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#65. Mix a little mystery with everything, for mystery arouses veneration.

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#66. We often have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend.

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#67. To keep is more important than to make friends.

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#68. A person has everything who cares nothing about what matters little.

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#69. If you cannot make knowledge your servant, make it your friend.

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

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#71. Be slow in enjoyment, quick at work, for men see work ended with pleasure, pleasure ended with regret. clxxv

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

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#73. 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.

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#74. He that communicates his secret to another makes himself that other's slave.

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#75. At 20 a man is a peacock, at 30 a lion, at 40 a camel, at 50 a serpent, at 60 a dog, at 70 an ape, and at 80 nothing

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

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

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#78. Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.

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

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#80. Hear, see, and be silent.

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#81. Nothing is good for him for whom nothing is bad.

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#82. The things we remember best are those better forgotten.

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#83. Nor should we lose heart if something doesn't please someone, for there'll always be someone else it does.

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#84. Man is born a barbarian, and only raises himself above the beast by culture.

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#85. Take 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.

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